WMU principals make time for communication

WINFIELD — “If you're going to make a decision, always make the one that’s best for the kids.”

Advice Winfield-Mt. Union High School Principal Gaige Gill heard that has stuck with him, and clearly carries over to the way he and Karinda Wahls, Elementary Principal and K-12 Curriculum Director make decisions for the school, especially when it comes to their openness to meet with members of the community to discuss what’s going on with the school.

“I think it’s just a matter of the kids in the building are all of our kids,” said Wahls. “It doesn’t matter if they are kindergartners or eighth-graders or seniors, they are all of our kids. We are here to help all kids. We can’t always make decisions at the end of the day that will make everyone happy, but we do want everyone to know that at the end of it all, we are going to make the decision that’s the best for kids.”

Both Wahls and Gill currently hold monthly open office hours for parents and community members to stop in and find out what is going on in the school, as well as time to voice any ideas or concerns they may have.

Gill hosts morning conversations on select days before school, while Wahls is taking the evening hours, in order to make sure that there is an opportunity for everyone to come in.

“Last year, I had after school hours every Wednesday for people to come in, because I feel it's really important,” said Wahls. “But if you're a working parent, our school hours don't always work or are the most accommodating. So what I did, instead of going every week after school, I went with just once a month, hoping to build a community sense of sharing in our celebrations that are happening in the building. And Gaige took the morning route which is awesome, so we can really hit the AM and PM schedules.”

While Wahls had already been hosting office hours the year previous, the addition of 2009 WMU graduate Gill to the administration staff as High School Principal solidified the effort to improve transparency and communication with the community.

“When I contemplated applying for this job, it was something I brought up in my interview,” noted Gill. “How I look at education, like being in the classroom, there are a lot of things you can do that are super proactive, and then some things that have to be reactive. As a principal, I just wanted to come up with something where maybe I could hear about things that are going on and ideas that people have for our school. And it’s really worked out.”

Not only do the dynamic duo of Wahls and Gill work well with the community, they also have been noticeably working within the building to foster a sense of unity throughout the entirety of the preschool-12th grade building.

“As I talk to our seniors about their time here and what we can do to make it better, they talk a lot about how much they like that it is a K-12 building and interacting with the elementary students, so the more of those things, the better,” said Gill. “And we bring our elementary and secondary staffs together, and they have also said they want more of that. It helps the culture, too. They see that we are one united building.”

“We are serving all students, and one of the things we really want to do is build a culture and a climate in the building that reflects that, it's a big priority of ours,” added Wahls.

Gill will host his next Coffee with the Principal office hours on Oct. 30, at 7 a.m., and Wahls will host her next afternoon Conversations with the Principal on Nov. 21, from 4:30-6 p.m.

She asks people to please RSVP via email so that she can make sure there is sufficient space available for everyone who wants to participate.