Elementary principal candidates impress at forum

The hunt for the newest principal at Lovell Elementary School continued last Thursday night with a community forum in the Lovell High School multi-purpose room.
Three candidates presented and answered submitted questions from the audience, one of whom will have been recommended and approved on Wednesday, March 20, when the school board was scheduled to meet on the topic.
The potential new administrators interviewed were Christopher Jensen, Jeremy Laing and Lydia McCracken.
Jensen is the current elementary principal for Yakima County School District No. 7 in Yakima, Washington.
Laing resides close by in Cody as a Title 1 teacher for Park County School District No. 6, and McCracken is a fifth-grade teacher down the road at Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley.
Superintendent Doug Hazen welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained the interview process that had taken place throughout the day for each candidate.
Lovell Chronicle publisher David Peck was introduced as the moderator of the forum and began the evening by expressing appreciation to current principal, Scott O’Tremba, for his 18 years of administration in the district. He also praised the school board and administration for having an open, transparent selection process.
Candidates were then escorted out and brought back into the meeting to answer a series of questions individually.
Each applicant was asked about their thoughts on disciplining/consequences, parent involvement, homework, bullying, relocating to Lovell, music and art education, their long-term professional goals and why they have chosen the administrative side of education.
Christopher Jensen
Christopher Jensen was the first candidate in the hot seat. He has been in education for 23 years and has served as an administrator at either the elementary, middle or high school level for 13 of those years.
In his current school district there are 14 separate elementary schools with anywhere from 550 to 600 students per campus.
“You get into this thing because you love kids,” Jensen said. “That’s never changed for me. Being an elementary school principal is like being a superhero.”
When addressing his stance on discipline and behavioral issues, Jensen explained the Latin phrase “in loco parentis” that administrators are granted, which means “in place of a parent.”
“I treat the student as if they were my own kid,” he continued. “What would I do to my own child in this situation?”
He also stressed that the school district belongs to the community and that he hoped all parents would feel welcomed to come and be a part of it in any way they could.
Jensen acknowledged the existence of bullying but also thinks the word gets confused with mutually harassing in our society.
“It all has to do with relationships, perspectives and reactions, and our students need to know how to respond to conflicts but also feel loved,” Jensen said.
Noting he had spent six years in Greybull previously, Jensen mentioned that the Big Horn Basin feels like home and that this was the second time he has applied for a position in this school district, the other as a potential prospect for superintendent alongside Hazen.
“There is a reason that I want a position in this specific school district, and that is because this is where I want to be and where I want my family to be,” he said.
Jensen loves both music and art and feels students need those opportunities to express themselves in those ways.
As far as long-term goals, he hopes that entails Lovell Elementary School.
“If I am hired, then three years from now I would like to be the principal at Lovell Elementary. The same would be said for five years and then still in 13 years when I could potentially retire in the place that I love,” said Jensen.
Jensen finds joy in watching people progress and grow, and as an administrator, he is able to see that on a larger scale across a whole building and not just in one classroom.
In closing, Jensen thanked everyone for the consideration and said it was evident that Lovell is full of dedicated people who care about the success of the community, and he’s looking forward to being able to hunt and fish in the area if selected.
Lydia McCracken
Next up was Lydia McCracken, current fifth-grade teacher at Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley.
McCracken is part of a ranching family that raises cattle outside of town and moved to the area from Montana seven years ago.
She is in her 20th year in education and said she has more experience in smaller classrooms in small towns that have limited resources, adding that she has been able to help build and develop their curriculum.
Being in that type of setting required her to fulfill roles of a principal such as budgeting, reporting, transportation and building behavioral programs to help kids meet their needs in the district.
She has taught and led staff in classrooms from K-12 where she helped improve instruction and create a positive environment where people love to come to work.
“Teaching is a great profession to be in,” McCracken said. “I’m not naïve, it’s not perfect, but it has a lot of great qualities, not to mention the people you get to work with from the kids to parents and co-workers.”
She believes in building relationships and using those relations to create a platform to work well with students.
“If we expect students to act in a certain way, then we must be proactive about teaching it to them, McCracken said of discipline.
“We can’t just assume that kids are coming in with the skill set to meet our expectations in the school system, so we must develop consistency but remain flexible to hold them accountable,” she continued.
Another point she made was that she understands how busy families are, but there are ways teachers can create opportunities to promote parent involvement because they provide such valuable input and help to create positive educational encouragement for their kids.
McCracken stated that she believes homework should be individualized per classroom to have a balance of “down time” with application outside of school.
“If the teachers feel that it’s an application that will benefit their instruction and the student’s learning in the classroom, then sending home a manageable amount of homework is acceptable,” she said.
Regarding bullying, McCracken thinks there must be proactive approach to combat the issue and an understanding of the perceptions of different students.
In the future, she strives to see growth in herself and her surroundings and wants to continue to learn and be better, though her passion for teaching will not change.
McCracken looks to move into the administrative side of education because she loves to lead and knows the struggles teachers face to provide a solid foundation of leadership to help others be successful.
“I love to problem-solve and want to be there to support people that have to make hard decisions and I want to help them be successful,” she explained.
She concluded by thanking everyone for being included in the process and thought the experience was “top notch.”
Jeremy Laing
The final prospect of the evening was Jeremy Laing, current Title 1 teacher in Cody.
Laing is in his 24th year in the educational field and has taught in a variety of grades at the elementary level.
He believes that schools exist to educate the population and to help kids learn to think and make good decisions throughout their future lives.
“One of the challenges we see across the United States is the fact we are losing educators,” Laing said. “One of the reasons this is happening is because it is a challenging profession that requires support.”
He went on to explain that it requires multiple people to be on the same page, whether it is from classroom to classroom, from administrators or from parents in the home to be successful.
“It takes a team effort to motivate kids,” he added. “The key is to remember that our students are learning and making progress, and we are dealing with children and they need help.”
As far as homework, he suggests to his teachers to “not give more than they can give feedback on” or that becomes overwhelming for families.
He praised school counselors for their role in impacting bullying in schools and how conflict is part of life.
“We must be careful with labeling kids as bullies if they were just experiencing a moment of conflict,” Laing said. “If it is persistent and is consistent in using power, then it must be addressed, and safety is paramount.”
One specific point he made regarding the arts and music was the need to keep literacy sacred and the arts separate, stating that there is a time and place for those things, and it is not necessarily during learning time.
Relocation for his family would depend on a few factors and his children’s involvement with activities like diving not currently available in Lovell but would be discussed if the time came.
Laing says he loves the Big Horn Basin and would love to be here the next 10-15 years and leave a legacy of learning in Lovell.
He hopes that his strength as a problem-solver will benefit Lovell Elementary and his desire to take care of the staff will create a positive work environment.
Lastly, Laing said, “Kids will remember how we make them feel, and it’s important that we make them feel good.”
The decision
Community members left feedback on the individual prospects, and all three seemed to have impressed the audience with their responses and views on the questioned topics.
On Wednesday night during a special meeting of the school board, one of the three candidates will have been selected as the Lovell Elementary principal to begin the 2024-25 school year.