A Visit from Mary Kay

Principal on sabbatical returns to adoring students

BY TAYLOUR NELSON
TaylourNelson@coloradoan.com

As she walked down the halls at Shepardson Elementary School, Mary Kay Sommers was swarmed by students who wanted a hug and a chance to update her about their pets or siblings or what they had for lunch that day.

It was a rare chance for the students to see their principal, who is on sabbatical as president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

As the face and voice representing nearly 30,000 principals across the United States, Sommers rarely has a day when she isn't on the road. Sommers, who is the first NAESP president from Colorado in more than 40 years, leads a busy life of talking to educators and policymakers across the United States and around the world about best practices and strategies for student success

V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan

Since July, Sommers has participated in some lively discussions and had conversations with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon and Keith Miller, director of the State Department's Office of Overseas Schools.

Sommers said the use of standardized testing data and the impact it is having on education is a reoccurring issue.

"Testing is No. 1," she said. "It's not an issue of tests; it's how the testing data are used and how it impacts teaching and learning, both positively and negatively."

She said the emphasis on student achievement through standardized tests often results in losing the whole-child approach of fostering the development of each individual student.

"We're losing the uniqueness of each child when we're trying to put them in a box,'' she said.

In September, Sommers was one of 42 people who testified before Congress in Washington, D.C., saying that the No Child Left Behind reauthorization bill had too much emphasis on high-stakes testing.

She spoke with policymakers in Washington, D.C., about the importance of bringing educators into the discussion when writing education policy.

"It gives me a chance to say, 'What if we could get the practitioners to the table with Congress?' " she said. "This (position) allows me to have a voice at tables I would never get a chance to be at."

She hosted the celebration for the National Distinguished Principals, which included successful principals from schools with students in challenging circumstances. Sommers said most attributed relationships with their school community as the key to being a successful principal.

"It's reaffirming to know that despite the hoopla of tests is the relationships - that is what's making a difference in education," Sommers said.

During her travels that can keep her away from Fort Collins for two to three weeks at a time, there is one item she keeps with her.

"I take last year's yearbook with me everywhere I go," she said. "I stay emotionally connected to why I'm doing what I'm doing: the kids at Shepardson; it's their eyes I look at."