TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT • Marysville Principal Lana Penley (left) talks with Tribune reporter Jennifer Anderson during her "Principal for a Day" visit, a Portland Schools Foundation annual event.

The Portland Tribune - 10/28/2010

‘Principal for a day’ shines spotlight on schools

It used to be that if you misbehaved in school, you got a direct pass to the principal’s office.

That’s not the case nowadays – except with egregious behavior – because many schools have a student management specialist on staff, dedicated to improving student behavior.

At Marysville K-8 School, Principal Lana Penley has also empowered teachers to handle most problems in their classrooms. That leaves her with less time as a disciplinarian, more time for other things.

In the day I spent shadowing Penley for the Portland Schools Foundation’s 10th Annual “Principal for a Day” event on Oct. 21, I saw her role as part fundraiser, part data analyst, part cheerleader.

One fifth-grade boy last week held out a stack of “Marysville Success Tickets” he’d collected over the years. Teachers hand them out to students who make good choices in class, and they’re entered for a prize drawing at the end of the week.

But most often it’s the recognition itself that’s worth more than the prize.

“Wow, great job!” Penley said to the boy, who kept several years of tickets safely stashed in his plastic yellow pencil case.

To see a child motivated and empowered to learn like that is magical stuff.

The Portland Schools Foundation knows that not many people get an up-close view of what happens in the public schools. That’s why the schools get a bad rap – because the news that comes out of the schools is political, having to do with test scores, budget cuts and reform measures.

The Principal for a Day event invites local civic and business leaders into 100 schools throughout Multnomah County, to help them see the positive work being done and how they can help fill the gaps.

After the event, during a discussion among principals and guest principals, all spoke passionately, calling on fellow businesses to offer internships and partnerships – whatever they can – with their neighborhood schools.

Mike Phillips, a world-renown Portland jazz musician, spent the day at North Portland’s Humboldt School, where he took his saxophone to every class and played a little tune. “They were very responsive to music,” he said of the students.

Someone in the crowd asked the all-critical question: Does Humboldt have a band? No, it doesn’t, Phillips said. That’s something he’s trying to remedy, by fundraising with legend Stevie Wonder on VH1’s “Save the Music” program, which aims to restore music to public schools.

“When I walk in and a fifth-grader sees a saxophone and calls it a trumpet, that’s a problem,” Phillips told the crowd. “Education is the new civil rights issue of this time. As long as a kid is breathing, they should be able to have the proper education.”

Phillips said he’d be spending time at his neighborhood school to follow through on his promise. The question is, will you?

– Jennifer Anderson