Life Goes On

Jennifer Kelly When I taught English at Stanwood High School, I had a reputation for being the “go-to girl” when there was a problem with an administrator, and I tangled with many superintendents and principals over the years.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a large part of the traditional relationship between faculty and administration.

But there was one principal I was fortunate to have worked with whose professional relationship with me as an administrator had a profound positive impact on my career and who was one of the best teachers I ever had. His name is Ted Jansen.

I call him a teacher because I have come to believe good administrators have to be good teachers, and that a school is really a microcosm of a classroom with the principal as teacher and coach and the teachers as students, all learning together. Just like students, teachers occasionally need to be disciplined and refocused, but also like students, they are always learning and need to be encouraged, to feel safe.

Terri and Ted Jansen Ted was an imposing figure when he first came. Standing six feet six inches high, he can appear quite intimidating. He also has a bit of a no nonsense attitude and does not suffer fools gladly. But that’s what I liked about him. He also treated everyone the same, while still taking into account individual differences.

The year after he came, when I still was a little intimidated by him, I ended up coaching a U-8 co-ed soccer team with Ted’s wife Terri. Their daughter Lindsay and my son Fred were on the team, and Terri, a beautiful brunette, 5 fee 4 inches, and a bit of a spitfire, showed me that Ted, in spite of his size and manner, was very understanding and respectful of where others were in charge and was willing to cooperate and give them space to do what they do best. I think he learned this from Terri. In fact, I’m sure he did.

One time when we were practicing behind Stanwood Elementary School, Ted came walking across the field toward us, and Terri, in the middle of giving the kids coaching instruction saw him coming. She looked up, and said to me, “What’s he coming here for?” and walked toward him, saying, “Scat! You get out of here! This is my territory,” and I watched him turn on his heels and go back to his car, with a little smile on his face. I thought I was going to die laughing watching this little woman direct so lightly and easily the big, scary principal, and frankly, he wasn’t so scary to me after that.

After a post conference from an observation, or if you were in his office discussing something, Ted had a funny habit at the “end of subjects.” He would turn around and start typing on this black manual typewriter. When he started typing you would know that it was your time to leave.

Ted is one of the smartest men I’ve ever met. He could speak Dutch (He was born in Holland) and German. While observing the German teacher when he first came, she made a remark to her students in German about the tall principal, and he responded in German, and was she surprised!

While Ted was at Stanwood, he really wanted to implement the four-period day and for a few years he tried to convince the staff of its effectiveness and benefits. He respected the staff enough to not force anything on them, and we never did do it. That was not the case in subsequent administrations’ decisions.

Ted was Stanwood High’s principal from the 1986-87 school year to 1994-95. When he came, I was probably in the low point of my career. I had just been through a divorce. I was tired.

Ted challenged me to find the fun in my job again and to take classes to perfect my craft. He believed that teachers should be facilitators of learning and that students should be “in” on what they were learning. I went from thinking I had to lecture everyday to using cooperative learning strategies and structuring lessons so the kids took more of a part in the research and questioning of themselves.

Rather than being a disciplinarian all the time, I became more like a coworker with my students and I started to like to come to work. The classroom took on less stress. I became happier and friendlier with the kids. I took classes that helped me with positive discipline in my classroom, cooperative learning with students, focusing on the students as individuals (a constant challenge with budget cuts and increased class sizes).

During Ted’s last year at Stanwood, we went through an experience that bonded us as friends for life—the death of the advanced placement English teacher who happened to be my cousin Judy. He was so understanding during that time, giving me time off when I needed to be with her, helping me find the courage to help the kids and staff, and I will forever be grateful to him for that time.

Life has gone on for me after Ted Jansen left and while teaching continued to be a joyous profession for me, I missed him every day. Ted’s last school as principal, after a stint at Hillsboro High School and a district administrator in Hillsboro, Oregon was North Mason High School from where he retired this year.

My teaching was transformed because of his influence and I’m sure I am not the only teacher who feels that way

When a principal can influence a teacher in that way, just imagine what happens for countless students: joy in learning, feeling safe, experiencing success, understanding consequences (and learning from them), and feeling motivated to try.

So as one career ends, another school year begins and life goes on.

I hope today’s administrators can take the lessons of Ted Jansen and incorporate them into their “teaching” for the success of their teachers and students.