Principal Fellows Annual Conference

Yesterday, Nov. 12, 2010, I went to the NCPF annual fall conference in Chapel Hill.  It was at the Chapel Hill Center for School Leadership Development.  Bill Bonds, the guest speaker was dynamic.  He was the ex-principal of the high school in Paducah, Kentucky were there was a school shooting that left eight students dead.  Mr. Bonds is no longer a principal, but a consultant for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, (NASSP).  He is a specialist for school Safety.  I learned so much about school safety from listening to this man, that is not written in the textbooks.  Mr. Bonds, is highly sought after by school districts when there is a crisis, however, he spends most of his time conducting workshops that train principals on what to do in a crisis situation before it happens.  The program began at 9:30 and lasted until 3:30.  I am certain that it cost NCPF a pretty penny to get this man but his presentation was well worth the money.  I considered it a good investment.  Mr. Bonds taught three separate workshops.  They were Lessons Learned from Dealing with School Crisis, Safe, Supportive, and Effective Schools, and Words that Hurt the Heart.  Together, they made a great recipe on how to keep your school safe.  It outlined some very important things that principals should do in the event of a crisis.  In the first session, Mr. Bonds told the story of the Paducah, Kentucky school shooting, where a student walked into the building and opened-fire on a group of students, leaving eight students dead.  He said the shooting lasted only a total of 11 seconds, but what he did afterwards was critical to how his school survived.  He related those steps to us in a very calm and matter-of-factly way, but it was good advice.  I learned that all school buildings are not created equal.  Bill said, "When you become a principal, you need to get a structural engineer to come into your building to identify weak and strong halls, ceilings, and walls.  DO NOT put children in weak areas."  In weak areas, whole slabs of concrete have been known to fall on students, crushing and killing them instantly.  Most schools have what it known as a tornado drill.  In this drill students are brought out of the classrooms into the hallways and told to face the wall, bend on their knees and stay down in this position until the drill is over.  Mr. Bonds said students often don't follow these instructions because they don't understand why are being told to do this.  Mr. Bonds stated, "Tell them why you are asking them to do this.  Teenage boys and girls do not fear death, so telling them this will prevent them from dying won't work.  A teenage girl fears getting her face cut up, smashed or injured.  A teenage boy fears, being crippled or in a wheelchair.  Tell them what could happen in winds of 200 miles per hour."  He showed a power point of pictures of the tornado that destroyed Enterprise High School.  The photos were unbelievable to see how quickly a school can be destroyed and left devastated.  Mr. Bonds stated that all schools need to have a supply of blankets to warm students and to prevent them from going into shock if they are injured.  Bonds talked about the importance of teachers during such times.  "When it gets bad, students are looking for a teacher to take care of them."  After a crisis it is important to have school the next day if at all possible.  "15 minutes after my students and teacher left, I began planning for the next day.  Communication is the key!"  Mr. Bonds also talked about Bullying and Cyber-bullying which is having a devastating effect on students today because of their access to the Internet.  Often it's hard for teachers to tell if it's bullying or just simply joking around.  He listed the four criteria for bullying.  They are 1) imbalance of power, 2) repeated often, 3) one student is humiliated by the behavior, 4) the other student enjoys the humiliation. All four of these criteria must be met to constitute bullying.  Bonds went over NC's bullying policy, which is NC Senate Bill 256, Article 29B, of the School Violence Prevention policy, 115-C 407.5, Bullying and Harassing Behavior.   Mr. Bonds noted that there is a difference in the way males and females bully.  "Males bully though use of physical size.  Females bully by social position." Bonds stated that "The reason cyber-bullying is so popular is because students get no negative feedback from this and they feel no remorse."  He also addressed the issue of school metal detectors.  "Metal detectors, DO NOT make anyone feel safer; they are an outward sign of fear.  Teachers, APs and principals make students feel safer."  "The most important part of my day is when students come into the building, I need to be where they are.  Nothing makes a student feel safer than seeing the Principal and AP in the hall.".  Much of what Bill Bonds shared with us was negative and depressing, but in the end he told how his school survived.  Teachers, parents and the community all  pulled together to form strong bonds which turned into extreme school support.   He was quick to relate how other circumstances he faced later did not go as well but developed into extreme distrust among staff and the community.  Bonds had so much good information to share with our audience that we literally ran out of time.  This was the best workshop that I have attended since becoming a Principal Fellow.  My prayer is that I will never forget these invaluable lesson learned and that I may also never have to use them.  In my opinion, every school district should have Bill Bonds speak their their administrators before disaster strikes.