less and that they would find the day as rewarding for themselves as for
the students. All such presenters who saw the Mr. Thelen at the end of the
day were most impressed by the decorum of the students and saw public
education in a new light. They did not know all the work he and his staff
had done to ensure this.
Mr. Thelen also tried to ensure that all went well by having his wife help
out. Most of the day, he wanted to be around the school making sure all
was going well. Therefore, his wife, along with his secretaries, held the fort
in the conference room as presenters came for their lunch break. Yes, the
secretaries were trusted members of the staff, but his spouse provided peace
of mind and added a familial dimension to the affair for the visitors. It is
important for a school leader to involve his or her significant other in life of
the school, a life that takes many hours away from the family. Understand-
ing the role and responsibilities of one’s spouse improves conjugal bliss.
In chapter 6 I advise school leaders to let people fly. The preceding an-
ecdote is in direct contradiction to this principle. A school leader wants to
personally mind the details of any event that affects how the outside world
sees his school. A principle of school leadership implicit in this book is
knowing when to follow one’s principles and when to modify them to fit
special situations.
There are other times when the school leader will want to mind the details
herself and not delegate. The beginning of the school year when students
receive their programs is such a time. If a student comes to the chair or
assistant principal or principal, it probably means that he feels he has been
given the counselor/programmer runaround and needs her intervention.
It was not unusual for a student to come to Ms. Niles-Perry with a pro-
gram problem. Her programmers handled most issues, but they followed
the guidelines that she had set down, such as no “convenience” changes:
that is, no changes because a student wanted to have lunch with a friend
or wanted to finish a period early. While some such changes might be
legitimate, multiplied by hundreds they would disrupt the entire school
program.
Ms. Niles-Perry supported this policy in 99 percent of the cases, but
would personally handle the exceptions. A student who was an emancipated
adult and sole support of his younger brother and sister asked to finish
school early because he had to get to his job. He wanted to skip lunch (tech-
166 Chapter 12