Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast with William D. Parker

A quick note to listeners:  Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following question: What feedback do you have for an AP who feels like they are carrying all the weight of the Principal? Listen in to hear their response! Leaning into Leadership with Darrin Peppard: Hi, Principal Matters listeners! This week’s episode is something a little different from our usual content. Rather than our regularly scheduled episode of Principal Matters Podcast, we are sharing an interview from Darrin Peppard’s podcast, Leaning into Leadership. Listen in to hear him interview me about Whose Permission Are You Waiting For? An Educator’s Guide to Doing What You Love. Below are Darrin’s show notes: In this episode of Leaning Into Leadership, Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with the brilliant William D. Parker—an award-winning former principal, author, speaker, and executive coach. Will is the founder of Principal Matters, LLC and the host of Principal Matters: The School Leader’s Podcast, with over 1.5 million downloads. Through his coaching, books, and virtual leadership academies, Will empowers school leaders to improve culture, communication, and student outcomes. Together, Darrin and Will dive deep into the real and raw experiences of school leadership. Will shares his journey from teacher to principal, including the moment he almost walked away from education—and the letter of resignation that changed his life. They explore the importance of reflection, well-being, and why leaders must pour into themselves before they can lead others. They also discuss Will’s latest book, Whose Permission Are You Waiting For? An Educator’s Guide to Doing What You Love, and how leaders can take back their autonomy by acting with clarity, curiosity, and intention. Key Takeaways: Leadership begins with personal wellness: Will’s turning point came through a wake-up call at home, leading him to redefine how he approached leadership. The question every educator should ask: Whose permission are you waiting for? Leading with curiosity can unlock clarity and drive real school improvement. Scaling your influence is not about doing more—it’s about sharing your expertise and elevating others. Reflection and coaching provide the safe space leaders need to grow. You can find the original interview via Darrin’s website, or on YouTube. Check out his website to learn more about the amazing work he does! The post PMP463: Leaning into Leadership with Darrin Peppard appeared first on Principal Matters.

Welcome back to another episode of Monday Matters! This week, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke are talking about building trust with teachers. Competency, openness, and honesty are three key building blocks to building trust with teachers. Teachers feeling that their principal is competent is key to having a trusting relationship between teachers and principals. Staying open to feedback from teachers and staff members will make them feel listened to and appreciated. Being honest is an essential skill, but principals should be mindful of being tactfully honest with their teachers to keep their trust alive. Listen in to the full conversation to hear all of the advice Will and Jen have to offer for principals trying to build or rebuild trust. If you would like to learn more about this topic, check out Jen’s new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools!   The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke and Will Parker – Trust with Teachers appeared first on Principal Matters.

A quick note to listeners:  Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to share some feedback that Will has recently received after a PD session with teachers and staff.  Listen in to hear their conversation! Meet Kim Marshall and Jenn David-Lang: Kim Marshall is a veteran educator and writer known for his work on teacher development, leadership, and school improvement. After spending 32 years in the Boston Public Schools—as a teacher, principal, and central office leader—he began writing and consulting full-time. He’s best known for The Marshall Memo, a weekly summary of important research and ideas for educators, and for his work on teacher supervision and evaluation. Kim’s mission is to help educators stay informed, inspired, and focused on what matters most for student success. Jenn David-Lang is an experienced educator, writer, and professional learning facilitator known for making education research accessible and actionable. She is the founder of The Main Idea, a service that provides monthly summaries of essential education books for busy school leaders. With a background in teaching, leadership, and coaching, Jenn combines deep knowledge with practical insights to support school improvement. Her mission is to empower educators with the tools and ideas they need to lead with clarity and purpose. They are the authors of two books, The Best of the Marshall Memo: Book One and Book Two: Ideas and Action Steps to Energize Leadership, Teaching, and Learning and they received a grant to upload all of the chapters to a website to offer these materials for FREE (bestofmarshallmemo.org) Identifying and Retaining Good Teachers: Will Parker begins the conversation by asking Jenn David-Lang and Kim Marshall to share some tips on how school leaders can identify and retain good teachers. For some principals, identifying the best teachers to retain can be difficult, and doing so is crucial to the health of the school. Sometimes identifying these teachers can come down to a simple judgement call; recognizing that there is potential in a teacher can lead to teacher growth. Kim Marshall suggests that classroom visits are what help identify good teachers, while giving them feedback is what will help retain them. Jenn David-Lang reminds listeners to pay attention to how a teacher responds to feedback, as well as the relationships they have formed.  Preventing Teacher Burnout: Next, Kim and Jenn share some insight into preventing teacher burnout. They recommend reading Article #8 of the Best of the Marshall Memo, an article that shares the story of a teacher, Rebecka Peterson, who almost left the profession. The turning point for Rebecka was when she started reminding herself of one good thing that happened each day. Eventually, she had her students start doing the same thing. In 2023, she was named the National Teacher of the Year. Kim and Jenn highlight Rebecka’s story, among others, in the Best of the Marshall Memo to provide principals with a variety of solutions to combating teacher burnout. Teaching is a hard profession, so it is essential for school leaders to provide the necessary coping strategies to struggling teachers. Why Teachers Don’t Ask for Help: Many new teachers often hesitate to ask for help when they need it, which can lead to stress and burnout for these individuals. One reason for this, Jenn and Kim highlight, is that teachers feel that principals are not easily accessible to them. Kim suggests that principals move away from a once a year teacher evaluation system to a frequent, informal system, thereby reducing the stakes of the process so that the administrator is more accessible. Jenn discusses the power of reflection on teacher growth. She says that principals should regularly ask new teachers about one thing that is going well and one thing they need support with. This removes some of the hesitation a new teacher may feel about asking for help by going to them, rather than them coming to you. Resilience Strategies: Building emotional resilience is a hard, but necessary skill that all educators must develop. This is an exceptionally difficult skill for new teachers to develop. Jenn recommends the book Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators to teachers and principals. Kim and Jenn also recommend Article #9 of the Best of Marshall Memo to teachers as a story that provides a realistic solution to managing tough emotions in the classroom. Focusing on what went well in the classroom can help boost teacher morale immensely. Teaching is a hard job, and Jenn and Kim want to help both school leaders and teachers to build emotional resilience and prevent burnout.  Staying Connected:  Jenn and Kim encourage listeners who would like to learn more about their work to visit Bestofmarshallmemo.org. They also encourage listeners to check out the all faculty discussions portion of their website.  The post PMP462: Supporting New Teachers, Part 2, with Jenn David-Lang and Kim Marshall appeared first on Principal Matters.

Welcome back, Principal Matters listeners! This week on Monday Matters, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke are talking about trust pillars and trust killers, a concept covered in Jen’s new book. When it comes to school trust, there are a number of methods school leaders can employ to build organizational trust among teachers and staff members. Jen describes the pillars of trust that hold up the weight of human and emotional needs of a school, and then outlines the things that can kill trust in those pillars. She also discusses the relationship between the amount of trust that teachers have in their principals and student achievement. There is also evidence that trust between teachers and principals leads to better student outcomes. Trust is crucial, essential, and foundational to building successful schools. To hear more about the importance of trust building for principals, listen in to Jen and Will’s conversation. If you would like to learn even more about building the foundations of trust, buy Jen’s book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools. Join us later this week to learn more about new teacher induction programs!  The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke and Will Parker – Trust Pillars and Trust Killers  appeared first on Principal Matters.

A quick note to listeners:  Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following question: What would a spouse tell a principal stepping into their first year on the job? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Kim Marshall and Jenn David-Lang: Kim Marshall is a veteran educator and writer known for his work on teacher development, leadership, and school improvement. After spending 32 years in the Boston Public Schools—as a teacher, principal, and central office leader—he began writing and consulting full-time. He’s best known for The Marshall Memo, a weekly summary of important research and ideas for educators, and for his work on teacher supervision and evaluation. Kim’s mission is to help educators stay informed, inspired, and focused on what matters most for student success. Jenn David-Lang is an experienced educator, writer, and professional learning facilitator known for making education research accessible and actionable. She is the founder of The Main Idea, a service that provides monthly summaries of essential education books for busy school leaders. With a background in teaching, leadership, and coaching, Jenn combines deep knowledge with practical insights to support school improvement. Her mission is to empower educators with the tools and ideas they need to lead with clarity and purpose. They are the authors of two books, The Best of the Marshall Memo: Book One and Book Two: Ideas and Action Steps to Energize Leadership, Teaching, and Learning and they received a grant to upload all of the chapters to a website to offer these materials for FREE (bestofmarshallmemo.org) Teacher Induction Program: Throughout the episode, Kim Marshall and Jenn David-Lang discuss teacher induction programs with Will Parker. They discuss how little preparation first-years teachers usually get before being thrust into the classroom. According to Harry Wong, around 50% of new teachers do not receive any training before they begin teaching. Additionally, 40%-60% of teachers end up leaving the profession, and 11% will quit within the first year. If school leaders want to ensure that their teachers feel well-prepared for the job, they should invest time in developing quality teacher induction programs for new teachers. Kim and Jenn point listeners to a number of resources that they can turn to for help developing effective teacher induction programs.  A Teacher’s First 90 Days: One takeaway that Jenn and Kim impress on listeners is the importance of skill building during the first 90 days of a teacher’s career. Teachers can improve as much in one year as many teachers improve in their first twenty years when they receive classroom management and rigorous skills training in their first 90 days on the job. Unfortunately, many school leaders have a “sink or swim” mindset when it comes to new teachers. This mindset leads to new teachers not receiving help that may keep them in the profession. As the conversation progresses, Kim Marshall and Jenn David-Lang offer a few pieces of advice on how school leaders can help new teachers in their first 90 days on the job. School leaders can help new teachers by answering questions new teachers may have in advance, providing them the opportunity to observe veteran teachers, and figuring out how to do a workload reduction for new teachers.  Teacher Burnout: Jenn and Kim have spent much of their respective careers researching ways that school leaders can improve teacher outcomes. Through their research, they have uncovered some of the most overlooked contributors to teacher burnout or turnover. They point out that the number one most cited reason that teachers are burning out is school leadership. Whether burnout is caused by excessive workload, the teacher evaluation system, or student behavior, all of these factors are heavily influenced by school leadership. They point listeners towards an article about how leaders put too little effort into retaining high-performing teachers. School leaders should conduct stay interviews with their teachers every year to find out what it will take for teachers to return the following year.  Staying Connected: You can learn more about Jenn David-Lang and Kim Marshall by visiting their website. Stay tuned for next week’s episode to learn more about supporting teachers! The post PMP461: Supporting New Teachers with Jenn David-Lang and Kim Marshall appeared first on Principal Matters.

Hello, Principal Matters Listeners! Welcome back to another conversation about Jen’s new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools, available August 17th. Pre-order your copy now! Today, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker will be talking about what sets this book apart from a lecture on how to be trustworthy. Their conversation goes over the difference between being trustworthy versus being trust-willing. Being trust-willing as a school leader means trusting the professionals you work with; truly believing in the team that you work with. Listen to the episode to learn more about how being trust-willing will make you a better principal! The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke and Will Parker – Trustworthy vs. Trust-willing appeared first on Principal Matters.

A quick note to listeners:  Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following listener question: What other practical ways (like your student handbook) can you rethink for sending positive messaging to your students and school community? Listen in to hear their response! Meet Richard Culatta: ​​As the CEO of ISTE+ASCD, Richard Culatta is focused on creating the next generation of innovative learning leaders. Richard has served as the Chief Innovation Officer of the state of Rhode Island and was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the US Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology. His book, Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World (Harvard Business Publishing) aims to help create conditions for healthy tech use at home and school. Join Jen Schwanke as she sits down with Richard Culatta, the visionary CEO of the newly merged ISTE and ASCD. This insightful conversation delves into the powerful synergy created by bringing together these two leading education organizations, exploring how their combined strengths are poised to better support administrators, technology experts, and educational innovators. Richard shares the compelling rationale and exciting opportunities arising from the merger, emphasizing the unified focus on enhancing the learner experience. Tune in as they discuss collaborative initiatives addressing critical contemporary issues, from navigating disruptive social media through their partnership with META to providing educators with robust resources for evaluating educational technology. Finally, Richard offers valuable insights from his book, Digital for Good, advocating for a nuanced approach to student technology use centered on screen value.  A Unified Force for Education: Richard Culatta discusses the strategic merger of ISTE and ASCD, highlighting how this unification of curriculum and technology leadership will create a more comprehensive support system for educators, ultimately prioritizing the learner experience. He also provides insights into the initial plans for their annual conferences, which will be held concurrently but remain distinct events.   Addressing Social Media Challenges: Richard discusses the impactful collaboration between ISTE, ASCD, and META, which resulted in the launch of “school mode” on Instagram. This innovative feature equips verified school administrators with crucial tools for the expedited review and removal of disruptive content and facilitates direct communication with the platform. Navigating the EdTech Landscape: Similarly, ISTE and ASCD have a forward-thinking approach to the ever-evolving world of educational technology. Under Culatta’s leadership, they focus on fundamental principles of effectiveness – curiosity, engagement, safety, accessibility, and research-based practices – helps educators discern valuable tools from fleeting trends. Additionally, they are raising standards for edtech vendors at their events and have launched edtechindex.org as a resource for reviewed educational applications.  Empowering Educators and Leaders: Culatta offers insights into key initiatives such as Generation AI, a program aiming to train 200,000 teachers in the effective integration of artificial intelligence for learning. The conversation also highlights the new instructional leader certification and the upcoming “Instructional Leader of the Year” award, designed to recognize and support district-level learning leaders. Rethinking Screen Time: Richard Culatta shares the core message of his book, Digital for Good, advocating for a shift in focus from mere “screen time” to “screen value.” He emphasizes the importance of modeling healthy digital behavior and encouraging parents and educators to consider what children are doing online rather than solely the duration. Using the analogy of food, he illustrates how different online activities hold varying levels of value. Now It’s Your Turn: What are ways your school would benefit from the ideas offered in Digital for Good? The post PMP460: Digital for Good with Richard Culatta appeared first on Principal Matters.

Hi, friends. Jen Schwanke is excited to announce that her new book, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools, will be released on the 17th of this month! Over the next several weeks, Jen and I will be using the Monday Matters episodes to dive into each of the chapters of her book. This week, we are talking about chapter one: Trust in schools, why it’s broken, and how to get it back. If you would like to read along as we discuss each chapter, you can pre-order the book now via the ASCD website. On that note, we would love to hear your thoughts as we work through her book! Feel free to share your thoughts with us by commenting on this post or by emailing us at will@williamdparker.com or jenschwanke@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy listening to us as we dive into each chapter of Trusted, and, as always, thank you for doing what matters! The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke and Will Parker – Trusted: A New Book by Jen Schwanke appeared first on Principal Matters.

A quick note to listeners:  Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker take a few minutes to discuss the following listener question: As I step into a new role at a new school, how can I make a difference in a school that is struggling with disengaged teachers without being seen as a ‘monster’ by the teachers I want to help? Listen in to hear their response! Also, Jen Schwanke now has her own newsletter! You can sign up for it here. Meet David Young: David Young is the CEO of the Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative in Lexington, KY. He resides in Danville, Kentucky, with wife Holly and their triplets – Mason, Connor, and Emma. David is a long-time school and district leader, having served as a principal and assistant superintendent before beginning work in his current role. Interestingly, David shares that when he began his career, he had no intentions of ever becoming a school or district leader. Under the guidance of David and his team, schools and districts across central Kentucky have experienced great improvements in both standards mastery and student achievement while working to implement the Measurable Results system. He is also the author of the book, Unlocking Academic Achievement: A Principal’s Guide To Improved Measurable Results. Extrapolating the Best From Your Superstars: David Young’s book is a handbook for school leaders from someone who has done the work. A significant portion of Unlocking Academic Achievement discusses how school leaders can scale excellence in their own schools through identifying, studying, and extrapolating the best from super-star teachers. In order for a school to improve, there needs to be a foundation built for that improvement. David suggests that school leaders visit their best teachers’ classrooms to establish a list of best practices that can then be implemented across an entire school. Doing so will help teachers better understand what is expected from them and how to ask for help when they need it.  Utilizing the Expertise Within: Another argument David Young makes in Unlocking Academic Achievement is that it is crucial for school leaders to utilize the “expertise within” their schools in order to reach their targeted destinations with student achievement. It is important for leaders to believe that their school already has what it takes to achieve  what they want to achieve. David points out that in any given school, there are individuals who either have expertise or who can develop expertise. Certainly, bringing in outside expertise can help teachers develop their own expertise, but teachers can also learn from others within their school when trying to gain expertise. By tapping into the expertise at a school internally, school leaders are creating a return on their investment.  Congruence with Standards-based Teaching: Throughout Unlocking Academic Achievement, David argues that the science of teaching is as important as the art of teaching, and that congruence with standards based teaching is in integral part of the science of teaching. David states that when teachers plan lessons, they need to pay attention to the key components of state standards. Specifically, teachers need to pay close attention to the verbs in state standards. If they don’t, students will fall behind in their learning. Teachers need to stay congruent with standards so that they can make sure students are learning what they are supposed to be learning. Likewise, school leaders need to focus on congruence when problem solving when students aren’t learning what they are supposed to be learning.  Staying Connected: Listen in to hear the entire conversation! To wrap up the episode, David Young extends his thanks to teachers and principals who are currently working in education.  You can stay connected with David Young via the following: EdVantange Podcast  His website: davidyoungeducation.com X: @davidyo333 or @edvantageed The post PMP459: Unlocking Academic Achievement with David Young appeared first on Principal Matters.

Lessons from Climbing Mt. Massive On June 26, 2025, my son Jack and I summited Mt Massive, at 14,429 feet, the 2nd tallest peak in Colorado. That one sentence sums up an impossibly difficult-to-describe one-day adventure that he and I have dreamed about for a long time. The day began at 4:30 AM, when we made coffee, ate a quick breakfast, and drove to the base of the mountain, parking in a gravel lot near what I believe was the Arkansas River. From there, we put on our backpacks, adjusted our hiking poles, and set off up the trail. It was 5:30 AM by this time. We traversed through pine forests, many of the trees damaged or killed by pine beetles years before. The trail moved gradually up, and for the next four miles, we kept going, crossing two creeks — one using a fallen tree, and the other stepping across on rocks like steps over the rushing water. As we moved higher and away from the damaged forest area, we began to encounter more ground cover, wildflowers, and healthy pines. As we came out of the forest cover, we could see Mt. Massive looming ahead. To reach it, however, would require three more miles of switchback trails through areas of small brush, grass, and more flowers.  To say it was a breathtaking view is an understatement. As we paused on the trail, we could look behind us at the pine forests below, and surrounding us were miles of mountain ridges, gray from the distance but covered in rivulets of snow marking the beginning of Spring in the mountains. From a distance, I’ve wondered what those green spaces were like between the forest and barren mountain tops. As we walked along this in-between space, I was overwhelmed by the immensity of the space, the variety of shrubs and grasses, the rocky soil, and the occasional marmot with a wagging tail, running between shrubs and rocks.  Jack, always full of knowledge, explained to me that the lichen on the rocks in this area, which is a combination of fungus and algae, decomposes over time, creating soil, from which the grasses and flowers grow. It takes hundreds of years for this process to happen, which is why it is important for hikers to stay on the trail and not damage these delicate ecosystems. Here we encountered our first snow. Across the grassy and shrub-filled areas, small snowpacks were visible. Jack pointed out that the pink tinges in the snow are created by bacteria, so hikers should avoid eating snow. Eventually, we followed the trail higher until we were surrounded mostly by rock, and with the increasing altitude, we were both struggling to breathe. Our steps slowed, and we had to pace ourselves by looking ahead to a clump of rocks as our destination for stopping. At this point in the hike, we had only seen two other hikers on the ridges ahead. As we headed into this rocky place on the trail, we heard a voice behind us. A young man, dark-headed and walking without a hat or hiking poles, said hello. He was a college student, named Ming, from Colorado Springs, he explained, extending a handshake. He grew up in Boulder and loves climbing.  When we told him this was our first 14-er, he said we had chosen a challenging one, but encouraged us that the summit would be worth it. And with that, he was off up the trail, bounding like a mountain goat. Jack and I looked at each other and laughed. Then we continued our plodding steps, one at a time, wondering if we really could reach the top. Each time I spotted Ming ahead of us, I was encouraged that it was possible.  As we neared the base of the summit’s first peak, I was really struggling with the thought of traversing the ridges it would take to reach the very top. But as we stepped up the trail, suddenly we were at the ridge of the base. In front of us opened an expanse of mountain ranges — endless miles of snow-capped ridges. The sight was so stunning, I actually felt like electricity was running through my entire body. The rush of endorphins was enough to motivate me to keep going.  The climb from here was almost like crawling. There were a couple of places where the pass from ridge to ridge required passing through snow-covered boulders. As we reached the height of one ridge, we would work our way to the next. Eventually, we saw the highest point, and a hiker who was standing on top with his phone out, capturing the moment. Jack and I reached the summit a few minutes later, and the hiker moved away so that we could have our own moment there. We sat for a while eating and drinking, and just soaking in the horizon of mountain ranges west, north, and south of us. To the east of us lay the forest floor from which we had come that morning, and beyond that lay the town of Leadville, Colorado, where Missy was waiting back at the home we rented.  As we were coming down the summit, we stopped to call her, and Jack called his girlfriend. It felt so amazing to have reached the top and hear their sweet voices celebrating with us.  The climb down was much longer than we expected. Somehow, in the adrenaline of the early morning, we had hiked seven miles up, and we anticipated the hike down would be twice as fast. It wasn’t. The pounding of our feet on dirt trails and rocky pathways was harder than we had expected. We tried to pause to take in the beauty of the landscape. We began to pick up the pace once we hit the tree line again, but the thought of making it back to the car became all-consuming. We also ran out of water as we hit the last three or four miles. With our water bladders in our packs dry, we carried less weight, but we were also thirsty and had made the good choice of packing extra water in the car for our return. We crossed back over the two streams, walked back from the healthy green forest into the blighted lower parts, and eventually walked down the long path to the river running by the gravel road and lot where we had parked. It may have been the most excited we have ever been to see a car.  Lessons learned The drive home was quiet and reflective, but the next day, I asked Jack what lessons he learned from the trip. Here’s what he said: Lesson 1: Be prepared for it to be harder and longer than expected.  Even though we had trained for months prior to the climb, hiking on the weekends back home, the altitude and trail conditions were still more difficult than any training we had done. Of course, this will be true for anyone reaching high achievement. Lesson 2: Take more water.  We felt pretty good about our water supplies because of the previous training and never running out. Lesson learned, however, that carrying extra reserves would have paid big dividends at the end of the trail and saved us three to four miles of longing for a drink till we reached the car. Lesson 3: Two is better than one. He said, “I couldn’t have done that hike by myself. It’s really helpful to have a partner.” Lots of research backs up this important reminder: we almost always achieve more (psychologically and in practice) when we partner with someone else on achieving difficult goals. Lesson 4: Mentally prepare for the downhill as the uphill – it’s harder in its own way, and the result of fatigue.  Jack and I had given lots of thought, conversation, and preparation for the mentality we would need to adopt when we hit uncomfortable altitudes. We didn’t anticipate, however, the mental toll of the climb down. Of course, when you are tired and the adrenaline subsides, you should expect the downhill can feel like a more difficult chore than you anticipated. Lesson 5: Take more time downhill – faster doesn’t mean a better hike. Having said lesson 4, lesson 5 was something we talked about later too. We passed by some breathtakingly beautiful fields, forests, and waterways without stopping to enjoy the view. Maybe it is unrealistic to expect to be fully present when you’re tired, but it was something we talked about later — wishing we had paused to be in the moment instead of being so fixated on the pace that we missed out. Let’s Wrap This Up At one point, I remember looking at the back of Jack’s head as he walked in front of me. His ears were red from the day in the sun. His brown pants were the color of the dusty trail at our feet. His image was enveloped by the blue sky above, with white clouds hovering, the surrounding green of shrubs and grass, the yellows, purples, and whites of flowers along the trail and stretching out to pine forests of green — and the entire horizon surrounding us with other gray peaks covered in rivulets of snow. I tried so hard to imprint this memory in my mind.  At 56 years old, I realize the opportunities for moments like this are limited. For Jack, at 19, the opportunities are still boundless.  For school leaders, the lessons above may sound familiar as you reflect on the school year. Every season brings a significant climb for you, your teachers, students, and community. The hard work is always worth it when you help others achieve their goals, but a few practical reminders can help you maintain perspective along the way. As you step into a new season, may you be prepared for the reality that reaching goals may be harder than expected, being well-resourced is essential, collaborating with others is more effective than going it alone, the downhill can be just as challenging as the uphill, and it’s important to pause and enjoy the moments along the way. Most importantly, though, is to remember the “why” of the climb — building memories, growing deeper in relationships, and leaving a lasting legacy for someone else to carry forward — these are the best outcomes of our work and our lives. The post MONDAY MATTERS with Jen Schwanke and Will Parker – Lessons From Climbing Mt. Massive appeared first on Principal Matters.