There’s a school principal that also works as an “influencer.” This is a fairly new word to me but apparently, it means someone who creates short videos that a lot of people watch. From what I have come to understand, influencers can make a lot of money.

This gentleman is principal of a K-12 school somewhere. Because it’s k-12 I am thinking it’s a charter school. He’s a much younger man than me and unlike me is tall and lanky. He keeps in shape by jogging. According to him, he has not missed a day of running in many years. Good for him.

Like most people on the internet, he has a story and a gimmick. His story is that in his first assignment as principal he did such a bad job that most of his faculty quit and he was let go. Now, in his second go round he has found the answer to being a great principal and running a great school.

First, he took himself and all the other administrators out of offices. He uses rolling carts instead. At any given time, he has his computer and walkie-talkie on his cart, as well as boxes of Kleenex for faculty and staff, and sometimes treats for them. He maintains that seeing teachers’ lesson plans are a waste of time, as well as professional development for the faculty. He prides himself on removing unruly students from the classroom. Being a cart administrator, he has not said where he puts these students. The cart doesn’t seem big enough to fit them inside the cart somewhere.

On any given day he can tell you how many steps he has taken, how many fist bumps he has given, how many free throws he has taken in the gym, how many games he played at recess with the students, how many classes he has visited, and how many classes he has substituted for. He also makes sure to include what little he had to eat each day. He seems to love crustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Somedays he puts a sweatshirt on with his hood on his head and pretends to be a bad student. He then cuts to his principal character and lets us know how he deals with the bad student, and sometimes, the parent.

He must make the videos before or after school because there are no faculty, staff or students in them. It is always him behind his cart, pretending to talk on his walkie-talkie while he walks briskly down the hall. I have heard his wife is his videographer.

My hat goes off to this guy who apparently has time to run every day, doesn’t’ have an office, and fist bumps hundreds of students while also taking the time to make these short videos. My biggest question for him is does he do all his paperwork from his cart? Where do the bad students go?

When COVID hit there was another principal from Kentucky that made funny videos making fun of bad teachers and bad parents from the front seat of his car all with an exaggerated southern accent. He became such a hit that, when I was looking for a class to take for professional development, someone designed a whole course around these videos. At first, he was funny. He still does videos but now they seem kind of whiney. He frequently gets serious now and comments on worldly issues. I guess you have to continue to create content to keep bringing in the bucks.

I make no judgement on either of these two men as principals. Maybe they are as fabulous as they portray themselves. Maybe they are so much better organized than I am and so much more effective that they have time to spend rolling down hallways on a cart or sitting in the front seat of their automobile. Good for them!

This is my 38th year as a principal. Some days I think I do a good job. Other days I think I am the world’s worst principal. Sometimes both thoughts occur to me in a single day or even in a single hour.

You can find videos on the internet from every profession, avocation and way of life. Parents, teachers, hobbyists, priests, life coaches, athletes get on their smart phones and tell you how it can be done. These people are not vetted. Anyone can get on the internet these days and tell you everything they think you need to know.

I wish life were that simple. I find being a principal hard work, the same as I find being a husband, father and grandfather hard work. If anyone claims to tell you differently in a three-minute video use them as entertainment, not as a guide for your life.  Work hard, pray hard and do your best in whatever you do. Pretty boring video, huh?

Jim Silcott