By Kira Walters, Staff Writer

Editor’s Note: While the members of Dare County Schools’ Central Office are so crucial to the function and success of each school, in a recent class discussion, Nighthawk News realized that many students don’t know the inner workings of Central Office leaders’ day-to-day jobs. Staff Writer Kira Walters reached out with questions and was invited to sit down with members of Central Office recently at their office next to Nags Head Elementary School to highlight some of these employees:

Director of Innovation Johanna Parker

What is your job like on a day-to-day basis? “So I am transitioning into a new role right now. I’ve been the Director of Innovation for the past four years and I’m transitioning into an Assistant Superintendent role. So day-to-day, every day is a little bit different. I try to start most of my days at school because, as you probably noticed, there’s not any kids in here (at Central Office). We make decisions that affect kids every day, so it’s important to me to get to a school either at the start of the day or the end of the day. It is lots of logistics, lots of planning, short-term and long-term, answering parent requests, planning events, looking at curriculum. I kind of do a little bit of everything, which I love.”

What jobs did you have previously that led you to Central Office? “I was an elementary school teacher. I taught first grade and fifth grade, then I was a school administrator and then I transitioned into a district role. I have had a very non-traditional career, so my trajectory has been a little bit different, probably different than a lot of people. I have had a lot of really different experiences. I was charged with building a brand new program in a district that never had it before.”

What major responsibilities does your job entail? “My Director of Innovation role is primarily to coordinate professional development for the district, so teaching the teachers and administrators. We plan with all of our administrators – they actually have meetings every month, where we get together and problem-solve. Then, we have district-wide conferences and events and just any information teachers can pull from to continue their learning. So I do that and then I coordinate and work really closely with our Elementary Ed Director and I coordinate the dual language immersion program, which is going to fifth grade next year. We are the first district in the state that had the option for kids to learn bilingually starting in kindergarten.”

What do you enjoy most about your job? “I love my job. I get to do a lot of different things and no two days are the same. I think it can be hard being at the district level. If you’ve been in a school, you can see in front of you the impact that a decision has had or getting to roll out something and seeing it. We don’t really get to see that: We’re twice-removed, if you think about it. In the classroom, I could do something and immediately see the kids doing it, but it is super rewarding to get to go into a classroom and see a teacher using a strategy that you’ve been working with them on or doing something new that they haven’t tried before and seeing them try it. We don’t get to see that often at the district level.”

What do you want students to know about how your job affects their education? “There’s lots of sayings about leadership and the people who are in charge, but it’s different when leadership is stable and listening to the people that you know your decisions affect and talking to those people. I feel like we do a really good job at that. We want feedback. If a team of people say, ‘Oh, we really want to buy this resource,’ and then it’s purchased and it doesn’t have what we thought or doesn’t roll out the way that we wanted it to, then we are going to come back to the table and problem-solve and potentially change it 100%. I don’t want to be right – I want to get it right; so whatever we need to do to make that happen, we will, within the scope that we can. If we plan far in advance and do things the best that we possibly can in this office, then, hopefully, when it gets to the schools, it all runs smoothly. If anything wild or crazy happens, we want that to happen here. Let us get the wild and crazy and then it’s smooth by the time it gets to you.”

What is your favorite memory from when you were in school? “When I was in high school, we moved into a new building my senior year and the school was originally in a building from World War II. It was in Guam. It was an old building, so it wasn’t like a real school, we had never been in real classrooms. When we moved to the new building, we got to do everything. We got to help design it – it was the coolest thing. I wanted to love school, but I didn’t always; It didn’t always work for me. I felt like the weird kid that asked a lot of questions and a lot of teachers weren’t a fan of that, but my journalism teacher, that year she decided we were going to do real-school journalism. It wasn’t just going to be like a Word doc with some columns. We used InDesign, we took our own pictures, and my senior year I ran out of things to take because we didn’t have dual enrollment. She knew I was going to end up sitting in the media center for the whole day doing all my homework for the next day so she arranged that I could go work at the local newspaper for the second half of my school day. I worked there and I got paid. It was awesome. It was the first time I was like, ‘Wow, if you really try and ask questions and push, school can work for you.’ It doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all.”

Director of Transportation Alex Chandler

What is your job like on a day-to-day basis? “Director of Transportation with any school district varies wildly each day. One of the things I like most is that I have no idea what my job will entail until buses hit the road that day. We transport anywhere from 1,700 to 2,000 riders each day that bring unique challenges, from discipline problems to parental concerns to personnel issues. One of the most time-consuming issues is the issue of stop-arm violations. With more and more traffic on the Outer Banks, stop-arm violations (when a vehicle passes a school bus with its red lights on and the stop arm out) are a growing concern. I work with individual law enforcement agencies throughout the county to find and prosecute violators.”

What jobs did you have previously that led you to Central Office? “I was a mechanic for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools for four years. I became a mechanic for Dare County Schools Transportation Department in 2007 and became Director of Transportation in 2015.”

What major responsibilities does your job entail? “The major responsibility would be the safety of children. We’re blessed in Dare County to have some of the best bus drivers and best equipment in North Carolina. Our mechanics are top-notch and take their job very seriously. Our DPI (Department of Public Instruction) yearly safety inspection of our equipment routinely scores in the top-five safest fleets in the state. With that being said, the No. 1 aspect of my job is the safety aspect, from children’s pick-up and drop-off locations, loading and unloading on school grounds to the vehicle safety. Also, the ever-changing weather of the Outer Banks is always of great concern. I work hand-in-hand with Dr. Farrelly during all four unique seasons. From snow and ice to hurricanes and nor’easters, our weather is uniquely challenging. Myself and Dr. Farrelly have a lot of 3 a.m. mornings ensuring roads are safe for buses, other student transportation and staff.”

What do you enjoy most about your job? “Hands down, it’s my staff and other co-workers. As someone that worked in another county early in my career, I see the dedication, professionalism and work ethic in Dare County that is second to none. Also, there is great satisfaction seeing bus riders and parents happy and excited about their ride to school. I follow each bus twice a year, and while doing so I love to see a child get off the bus and see the child and parent with smiles. It’s quite fulfilling knowing they have a good transportation experience.”

What do you want students to know about how your job affects their education? “The first Dare County Schools employee a bus rider sees is the bus driver. I preach to drivers about being happy and smiling. I’ve learned over the years that for a child to have a good school day, they must also have a good bus ride in the morning. It sets the stage for the rest of the day. Transportation also affects a student’s education by being punctual. We work incredibly hard to make sure all buses arrive at school on time every morning. No one’s day is as productive as it could be if it starts with chaos.”

What is your favorite memory from when you visit schools? “I’m in and out of each school regularly. A few times a year, a student will greet me with a handmade card and a smile saying thank you for what we do. I also love when I’m out in the community on my off-time and a student comes up and talks about how great their bus driver is and how much they love taking the bus to school. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Director of Administrative Services and Career and Technical Education Dr. Shannon Castillo 

What is your job like on a day-to-day basis? “I am the Career Technical Education Director, but I am also the Administrative Services Director. It varies every day. It could be being in schools working with curriculum leaders and teachers and staff to meeting with students and community leaders and bringing folks in to share their field of knowledge with students.”

What jobs did you have previously that led you to Central Office? “I was a teacher and then I became an instructional coach. Then, from there, I was an assistant principal and the principal role.”

What major responsibilities does your job entail? “In addition to the Career and Technical Director, which kind of lays out all the different types of courses and pathways that we have, I’m the Administrative Services Director, so I receive things such as homebound students, school fundraisers, homeless students, the healthy active children, school safety and driver’s ed.”

What do you enjoy most about your job? “I would say meeting with students and teachers and the experiences that students gain in CTE and then being able to put it out into the real world. Going and visiting students during their internships and seeing them doing what they’re passionate about that they want their career path to go toward is so cool. It’s pretty neat having that link to provide the resources for students to be able to pursue their passions.” 

What do you want students to know about how your job affects their education? “CTE provides that link from education to the workforce no matter what path you take to get there. Whether it’s right from high school graduation to a two-year degree to a four-year degree to a medical degree, it gets you to your career goal and it begins that passion. So we enable pursuits to see how much potential they have and to explore those passions and they may find that what they thought they were passionate about, they don’t really care for it and that’s OK. Now is the time to explore and find out. CTE gives that academic preparation direction, career-related knowledge to help them to plan studies in line with their interests and abilities and goals, but also in the classes students get to have real-world experiences.”

What is your favorite memory from when you were in school? “I remember being in chemistry class and I remember the day, I remember the lab, I remember that setting when the lightbulb turned on and chemistry just made sense and it was easy. I remember the lightbulb going off and that is what led me into the world of teaching and loving to see that lightbulb moment. I’ve taught multiple grade levels and worked with teachers in multiple grade levels, and getting to that lightbulb moment is why.”

Sophomore Kira Walters can be reached at 24walterski77@daretolearn.org.