Running Head: ENCOURAGING SCHOOL MEMBERS TO ACHIEVE THE CAMPUS VISION

Encouraging School Members to Achieve the Campus Vision

Andrea Gonzalez
University of St. Thomas
EDUC 5315 Instructional Leadership
Dr. Nickie Landry
June 4, 2016

Encouraging School Members to Achieve the Campus Vision

Good morning, a small voice comes through the loudspeaker as teachers and students
settle into their classrooms to begin the day. My name is Elizabeth and I am from Mr. Albans
first grade class. The morning announcements are done daily by students from each grade level
at Seguin Elementary and include a variety of topics. The weather is reviewed along with
upcoming events, tests, attendance goals, and ideas to incorporate the Habit of the Day into
school and home activities. Remember, our mission statement is Preparing the Whole Person
to Reach the Whole World! Elizabeth proclaims as she wraps up the announcements.
Plenty of schools throughout the Houston Independent School District (HISD) have
vision or mission statements. However, not all of these schools possess a positive environment
that helps their students, teachers, parents, and community members become actively involved in
making the vision or mission a reality. As Bambrick-Santoyo (2012) states, culture is not formed
by motivational speeches or statements of values. It is formed by repeated practice using every
minute of every day to build good habits (p. 166). So it is not just about our students reciting the
statement every morning, but getting them actively involved in the statement.
As a principal, establishing good habits to create a positive environment begins with
ones self and trickle on to school members by leading though example. How can a principal
expect her teachers to be punctual if she is always late? Creating a personal vision and road map
will lead to better practices as a principal. The first line of defense leaders have is their teachers
and staff members. In order to create a conducive environment these are the first people that need
to be on board. To get the support of teachers and staff members, there are a few areas the road
map must visit. After the vision has been created search for the teachers who are supportive and
willing to help drive it forward. Create mile markers to assess progression and to look back

Encouraging School Members to Achieve the Campus Vision

reflect. Keep eyes and ears open to be vigilant of negative culture and, if it arises, address it
accordingly.
Student involvement can become challenging especially as students get older and less
excited about school. So, how do we keep students interested and involved? Ask the students to
be a part of building positive campus culture. Student involvement and ownership is a strong
way to help make the mission statement relevant on a daily basis. Students can form a committee
and designate individuals to be in charge of specific environment boosting activities. These
strategies are fantastic, but what about the students who are not a part of the organization? As
stated earlier, starting from the top and trickling down is an important part of leading by
example. Having teachers on board with the campus vision and mission will help students
engage as well.
In chapter 5, Bambrick-Santoyo (2012) quotes Aristotle by saying, We are what we
repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Practicing good behavior, being on
task during activities, turning in homework regularly, being polite to classmates and teachers,
and having teachers, staff members, and administrators all model and encourage it will create a
positive environment. The chapter continues with building consistency by practicing routines and
procedures constantly. This also helps to shape student character and moral value. In order to
ensure all teachers were on the same page, professional development would be provided with
plenty of opportunities to practice the routines and procedures all teachers would implement.
Creating relationships with parents, caregivers, and community members can be difficult
because they are less visible than teachers or students. However, when the opportunity arises for
facetime with these individuals it is important to make them feel involved, welcomed, and
valued. Bambrick-Santoyo (2012), provides several strategies to use when building culture
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Encouraging School Members to Achieve the Campus Vision

among staff, however these ideas can be used with just about anyone. My favorite is Listen First.
How often do we listen to someones ideas and before they finish we completely dismiss them
because we do not agree? We do this without fully understanding the person. This ends up
hurting the culture by making this individual feel unvalued and they will not likely return with
additional suggestions (p. 205).
Including parents, caregivers, and community members gives them a sense of belonging
and value. Although some might not be able to be present physically, they can lend a helping
hand from home. Teachers can complete a Helping Hands card and during open house or parent
conferences, they may choose how they would like to assist. Creating a beneficial campus
culture can be a difficult task for one person to handle. However, if it is shared among all
stakeholders and the majority of members are invested, engaging all stakeholders to be active in
the campus vision is possible.

Encouraging School Members to Achieve the Campus Vision

References
Bambrick-Santoyo, P., & Peiser, B. M. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to
building exceptional schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Reflection
This class has stretched me as a leader with reflections and responses to ideas and
situations that occurred during the internship course. The two courses were not connected,
however, they related to each other perfectly. During this course though, I caught myself playing
the what-if game and pretending I was the principal. While doing this I tried my best to be
realistic and strategically plan for situations that might not quite be ideal. This paper was
enjoyable because I was able to reflect on current practices at my campus and think of ideas to
improve them.