A few hours before this industry show, the interim acting principal
received a call from one of the best fashion design teachers. There was
an emergency: The 1940s-era steam iron in her room wouldn’t work, and
the school’s mechanic could not be found despite several announcements
over the loudspeaker. Mr. Thelen immediately went to the room to speak
with the teacher. She and her students were distressed because their gar-
ments could not be properly pressed and prepped before the big show.
As an assistant principal of supervision, Mr. Thelen had learned to
fix department machinery, everything from now-obsolete rexograph ma-
chines to photocopiers. This is a necessary skill for department chairper-
sons. Unfortunately, his skill did not extend to pre–World War II steam
irons, and the repairs he attempted did not work.
Mr. Thelen called the main office and had another loudspeaker an-
nouncement made. He called the assistant principal of organization and
the lead school security guard to put out an “APB.” He then personally
went around the school to every place the mechanic could possibly be:
vocational classrooms, the lunchroom, different offices, and the basement
workshops.
Periodically, he called the teacher to see if the missing mechanic had
made his way to her room. As Mr. Thelen was entering the subterranean
passages of the boiler room, his secretary came over the loudspeaker to
say that the missing mechanic had been found and was addressing the
problem.
The mechanic had forgotten it was fashion show day and was out of the
building eating a leisurely lunch. As soon as he appeared at the front en-
trance, a security guard brought him to fix the steam iron. All the interim
acting principal’s efforts to find him had failed. However, he gained the
respect of the vocational teachers when word spread that their principal
had spent the good part of an hour personally searching the building
for the mechanic. This single act validated the work of these vocational
teachers. This unsuccessful search assured them that their new principal
understood that their work was important. When Mr. Thelen was going
through the interview process to become the permanent principal, he had
the support of the vocational teachers on the selection panel.
In this era of high-stakes testing, you may be faced with a variety of test-
ing issues. Every few years there is a problem with the New York State
6 Chapter 1