NRCSD's #NationalPrincipalsMonth Spotlight is Farley Elementary School Principal: 𝐄𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐲
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥?
What inspired me were teachers and educators before me. I have been fortunate to have,as a student growing up here in NR, great teachers and coaches who inspired me to get into education. Then when I got a teaching job, I wanted to be that for students, a great role model whether it be as a teacher or coach. Working here, I have been surrounded by great colleagues and mentors to get me where I am.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬?
The one piece of advice I would give a new teacher or administrator is to be yourself. Don't try to be someone else, because students or staff will see right through that. Make decisions that are what you think is best for the student in front of you. If you put kids first, you will be successful in education. Also, don't be afraid to take risks. It is ok to make mistakes. I tell the students that we will make mistakes and we will learn from them, we grow as people from them.