Hello, Fellow Educators, Non-Profit Volunteers, and Community Supporters!

The best job I ever had was principal of an elementary campus! What a way to impact young lives by giving them a dream to guide their decisions as they grow. It was awesome! I learned that every child can learn given the opportunity to do so in a positive environment. I am passionate about finding the kids at the bottom, and figuring out what will help them pull themselves up to grade level goals. I admired principals as a kid, and continue to look up to my peers. It is a truly thankless job, but the reward is infinite.

Two Decades of TESTED Beliefs, and of these things I am certain:

Core Belief # 1 – We have to figure out what stumps some of our students in reading. EARLY!

It really is life-threatening in our current world to not be able to read. Think on this for a couple of minutes.

Sometimes student do not struggle until intermediate and middle school levels—what then? Let’s school ourselves on the myriad ways students who struggle to read need interventions. We need elementary expertise EVERYWHERE in this regard!

Core Belief # 2 – When we intensely investigate what the reading problem may be, we can better address it with the mindset, “Let’s work as a team of specialists, and help this kid move to grade level or above.”

Core Belief # 3—Students will live up, or down, to expectations. Success Parallels Expectations! Keep them higher after each goal is met.

Core Belief # 4—We learn together. Learning just happens more naturally when we promote each other! And challenge each other! Professional Development is unceasing, and it is how our brains grow and innovate.

Core Belief # 5—Teams achieve more—faster. When we band together and figure out how we grow, it is easier to model the behavior for our students. There is also sensitivity to students who learn differently when we understand the differences in ourselves. Again—modeling respect is a win-win. And I like expediency and work diligently toward it in all aspects.

Core Belief # 6—If a leader focuses energies on making team members paper tasks easier, there is more time for focus on people. This has been a successful strategy for me for many years. (W.E. Deming philosophy, I think?

Core Belief # 7—We should always be improving. Part II of this belief is the inevitable duty to paperwork. A student’s records are like the clothes on his back. Are we sending all-weather gear with our graduates, enabling them to deal with any new receiving school? Or are we “skimming,” and leaving the student to put it all together later? Maybe? DATA drives improvement for individual students. Learn it. Use it. Record it. AND-- Show it off when it provides the shine!

My goal is to become a member of a team that challenges each other to new heights. I am also inquisitive about how the brain retains information, and how many different ways we all learn. Would you want me on your team? Check out some of my projects, and you will see that I enjoy going above-and-beyond for the sake of our students and our community.

The bridge builder in me may be evident. “Leave it better than you found it,” is one of my favorite mantras.

Contact me if you believe I can make your team stronger! You might be interested in my next project!

Lisa West