Principal’s Corner byt John Mahal

John Mahal is principal of Hawthorne Elementary School.

When you think of your current career or educational choice, why have you chosen this area of interest? No, really — before you read on, what was it that interested you in that area? Could it have been the opportunity to study or work in a new field that was on the cutting edge? Maybe it was the opportunity to continue a tradition in a family business? Maybe you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a lot of money? Could it have been a calling to help influence our next generation of citizens in our community? Any way you look at it, we all have our “why” we have chosen to go into the field or career we have chosen. 

At Hawthorne Elementary, staff took time at the beginning of the year to reflect upon their “why” and have this displayed in the main hallway as you enter the building. It is my belief that as educators, we take a moment once in a while to reflect upon our “why” as we have extremely hectic days in providing high levels of instruction based on state standards while also creating lessons that are engaging and managing the personalities of 20-plus students who are amazingly unique. It truly is an art.

In trying to juggle as much as we do each day, being able to stop for that moment to read another educator’s “why” statement (or re-read my own) is extremely powerful, as it can remind us why we chose to get into education and, ultimately, who we are at school for: the students. I know I have had the opportunity to read each “why” statement, and I come away being so impressed with our staff. They are kind, compassionate, fun-loving, family-oriented and driven educators who want to do any and everything they can to help students grow. It doesn’t matter if the “why” statements are from our newest or most veteran educators — the one thing they all have in common is the love and passion they have for students.

Another fun reason for this wall is that it allows our students to read about and connect more with their own teacher or staff members they know and hopefully learn more deeply about that staff member in terms of why they are at Hawthorne Elementary.  I believe this is important for our students to learn, as this information may spark an interest within that child that may not have come out otherwise. We are always looking to inspire our students for greatness with whatever they choose, and understanding our staff members’ paths to Hawthorne can be just that!

If you are visiting Hawthorne in the near future, I hope you will take a moment or two to read and understand a few staff members’ “why.” I promise it will make you feel as good as it does for me in knowing we have such dedicated educators at Hawthorne and across our school district!