Many times, in my home community, recent high school graduates would stop me in the grocery store or at the rink and say, “Oh my gosh, Ms. Behan — I am so sorry for (what they did) when I was in high school!” Of course, I had completely forgotten most of those incidents. As a society, we don't define adults by how they behaved at 15, full of pimples, hormones, impulsive decisions, and with a desperate need to figure out who they were and where they belonged in the world.
But unlike many other professionals, Principals are connected with those early stages of life in the work they do every day, holding space for children and adolescents as they grow, stumble, and find themselves. The heart of our work is being present in those messy, formative years, and seeing the potential in every child, even when they cannot yet see it in themselves.
In October, as we celebrate National Principals’ Month, let’s go beyond the Instagram posts, cookies, and well wishes. I want us to ask: What are we truly celebrating?
I believe we are celebrating the role of the Principal as the person standing at the centre of the system, the focal point connecting senior administration, Ministry leadership, students, teachers, parents, caregivers, support staff, and the community. We are celebrating the quiet, unseen leadership that impacts staff morale, student success, and the health of entire school communities.
We are celebrating the selfless hours, the difficult decisions, the late-night emails, and the quiet moments at the end of the day when you wonder if you are making a difference (and you are!) We are celebrating the joy of connecting with students, the trust you hold with families, and the resilience you model for staff.
And perhaps most importantly, we are celebrating the way Principals take care of the adults in their buildings. Because, as Dr. Jody Carrington asserts, when the adults are not okay, the kids are not okay.