Learning Strategies

The other day I turned on the radio to hear someone say, “Sure, there’s diversity in Weston. They have doctors and lawyers.” But now we have a more convincing sign of diversity: a black principal!

The Superintendent of Schools just announced the appointment of Anthony Parker as the new principal of Weston High School. Of course we’re supposed to be color-blind and not notice that Parker is African-American. We’re thrilled that he’s a calm leader with 13 years of experience in Newton, the next town over; that we all immediately liked and respected him; and that he’s clearly a good listener with good values. Most intriguingly, he used to be assistant editor of Sojourners Magazine, a lefty Christian magazine focused on peace and social justice. Consider, for example, the first full paragraph that we currently see on the Sojourners website:

Passage of the budget will result in cuts to health care, child support, and educational assistance for low-income families. At the same time, Congress is planning to provide more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Parker is a graduate of Earlham, has a master’s degree from Harvard, and is currently a doctoral candidate at BC. These are great credentials; nobody will say that he got the job just because he’s black.

Nevertheless, it’s going to shake things up a bit to have a person of color as our principal. And that’s all for the good.

Labels: teaching and learning, Weston