By Marlon A. Walker marlon.walker@ajc.com
Lake Forest Elementary School Principal Taylor Barton led Trinita Ervin through his morning routine Friday.
That meant visiting classrooms and passing out bundt cakes as appreciation to staffers at the school, in Sandy Springs just beyond Roswell Road near I-285. Ervin was skipping her day job as a manager of internal medicine at Northside Hospital to be the school’s “Principal for a Day,” when the district invites outsiders to get a glimpse at the work done behind the scenes to educate area children.
“A lot of people just drive by schools ... and never see the magic happen,” Barton said. “They miss the personal connection going on.”
Fulton County School System officials said the program is a cooperation between the district, the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, South Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce to build better relationships between the school system and local industry.
District officials said hundreds of community leaders from across metro Atlanta have participated in the event since it started nine years ago. It is held annually during American Education Week, which wrapped up Friday.
With it being the week before Thanksgiving, Barton said Ervin also got to see students telling why they were thankful for their teachers. In a fifth-grade classroom, they watched a video from a class in Mexico. The classes correspond with each other, Barton said.
Participants learn the ins and outs of running a school, from the top spot. “You get to see the real work that’s going on,” he said.
“They get to see what we’re asking our students to do at such a young age,” said Danielle Miller, assistant principal at Lake Forest.
Alberta Bell, who served as principal for a day at Bear Creek Elementary School, said she gained a better understanding for how children are educated.
“I was really impressed with the principal, his actual involvement with the classroom and the order of the students,” she said. “We ran into one or two problems, but overall, the setup he put in place was very impressive.”
Bell said she sat in a handful of classrooms, observing teacher instruction and interacting with students during her day. Other “principals” participated in parent conferences, lunchroom duty, even handing students off in the carpool area after school.
“The biggest surprise is the principal was not in the office orchestrating things,” said Paula Ward of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. “Busy. On his feet. Moving around that school at a very fast pace. I wasn’t just impressed. I was surprised. I think that’s the norm for today’s environment. As I consider today’s children, socioeconomic issues and the state of education today, it’s necessary.”
Ward, who was participating for the first time, said the experience showed her more people need to understand the inner workings of the educational system.
“I wish that they could do it more frequently and broaden their scope in bringing in people to get them more involved and see what it takes for educators to take care of our children,” she said. “In the process of providing an education, they’re also taking care of these children during the hours they have them. They have to be concerned with social need as well as education. I think that needs to be understood from a broader audience.”