February 28, 2022 – Today MacArthur High School hosted a luncheon for Stepping Up for DPS to celebrate a group of people from the community that came into local schools last week to be a Principal For a Day.
“There were two goals with this event – Awareness of the highlights of the good things going on in our schools, and also to expose our kids to more diverse backgrounds and more diverse people. That’s one of the reasons why we did this during Black History Month, to have some of the black community leaders come into the organization and talk to our kids,” said Jeff Dase, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning.
Those that took part in being Principal for a Day recounted some of their experiences. Dr. Jarmese Sherrod spoke about her experience at Eisenhower High School. “Part of me coming in that day wasn’t to come in and do Dr. Zahm’s job, but to spoil all of the people that do the job so well. Too often we get an opportunity where we don’t give them a lot of praise, a lot of admiration for what they do and I wanted to make sure everyone felt special,” said Jerrod.
The event was closed with a call to action from Jeff Dase, “The call to action is to come back, don’t just let this be a one-timer, and not only come back; tell others…this is the qualitative data that we often don’t look at.” he continued, “For you all to come into the schools, and some of you are from this system which is even better. You’re touchable role models because you came from this district, which means there is success possible coming out of this district…our kids can only do better when they know better.” he said.
Barring any setbacks, the program will continue for a second year. For more information on the program, go to Decatur Public School’s website.
