Booker T. Washington High School: A Memoir Illustrating the Creation of a Student Empowerment and Inspirational Culture
After thirty years as an educator, my most impactful years were during my tenure as principal of Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk Public Schools. Located in Norfolk, Virginia, the history and legacy of Booker T. Washington High School runs deep. From a historical lens, Booker Taliaferro Washington became a leading African American intellectual of the 19th century. He was educated at Hampton Institute and founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University). Some of his most notable achievements were his advising of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft and the “Great Debate” with W. E. B. Du Bois over strategies for African-American social and economic progress. Following in the accomplishments of its namesake, Booker T. Washington High School traces back to one of Virginia’s first accredited public high schools for African Americans (Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2019).Thus, it has served as Norfolk’s only public high school for black students for decades, and a state historical marker was issued to commemorate this achievement. Having the responsibility to continue the era of excellence was a task that I did not take lightly and viewed as an opportunity to celebrate the past and embrace the future by actualizing the mission statement of making Booker T. Washington the premier urban high school in Norfolk.
In retrospect, I entered my first year as Principal with several challenges, most notable were that the school was performing poorly and the school culture needed improvement. Despite these challenges, I was optimistic that under my leadership the school would improve. One source of inspiration came from Dr. Salome Thomas-El’s book, The Immortality of Influence (2006). He gave me the blueprint to immediately enter the school and affect change within the internal and external school community. His blueprint was tied to a simple phrase: “Committed to Personal Influence.” Dr. Thomas-El emphasizes “that as leaders, the power of personal influence is not that we intentionally do things just to influence or change others, but the right kind of influence happens when we help others. Our actions flow out of who we are. We demonstrate to others things we often can’t put into words.”
As a result of these words, I found the leadership word that would drive my way of thinking and working at Booker T. Washington, and that impassioned word was “Believe”. I wanted to extend this word far beyond the traditional definition of what to consider true or honest; however, with this word being a transitive verb, my vision was to apply it to the direct object, our Booker T. Washington High School Scholars. Hence, my primary goal was to collaborate with the teachers and staff to “Believe” that each day, we would enter the school to Build, Encourage, Love, Inspire, Educate, Value, and Empower (BELIEVE) our students, parents, and community. Moreover, Dr. Luvelle Brown, in his book Culture of Love, affirmed my focus on investing in and valuing our students’ by stating, “Loving young people must be on display every day; students need leaders that are present, humble, and committed to building meaningful; relationships” (Brown, 2018).
In a recent conversation with Mr. Central Hicks, Principal of Liberty Hill Middle School located in Killeen ISD, he inquired about the specific leadership best practices that were implemented to foster this ideal. During this conversation, I took out a sheet of paper and began to write down the particular leadership lessons that set the school on the path to success. As we further engaged in our conversation, I narrowed my comprehensive list from twenty to three leadership lessons. Each leadership practice required a daily, collective school commitment to personal influence and investing in young people. The three leadership best practices were:
- Affirm Students Daily.
- Celebrate and Encourage Academic Excellence.
- Invest in Parent and Community Engagement.
Leadership Practice #1: Affirm Students Daily
Baruti Kafele, in his book Closing The Attitude Gap (2009), stressed the importance of what students see, hear, feel, and experience in school. Specifically, he believed that school leaders must have an intentional focus on what students see when walking into the building, what students feel when entering classrooms, what students hear during initial interactions with school staff, administrators, and teachers, and the overall experience during the school day. I resoundingly agree with this viewpoint and took steps daily to ensure that my students had a welcoming climate and culture.
Posting Motivational Quotes and Affirmations: It has been shared that positive affirmations and motivational quotes can significantly impact a child’s mindset and guide them toward a positive self-image by reinforcing the positive things they see and think about themselves. Thus, collaborating with my art teacher, we developed the Positive Affirmation Project. This project was designed to place motivational quotes and affirmations in every hallway throughout the school. Our vision was to use the hallway as a canvas to promote a positive and growth mindset. Between classes, I enjoyed seeing students walk the halls and read quotes by Malcolm X, Kobe Bryant, Michelle Obama, and Booker T. Washington.
Leadership Practice #2: Celebrate and Encourage Academic Excellence
Jimmy Casas encouraged school leaders to be merchants of hope and take responsibility to ignite a spark in the school that allows every student to be part of something great, feel that no limits are placed on their talents or strengths, and have a space where their dreams to achieve the impossible can be realized (Casas, 2017. Culturize: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes). As a merchant of hope, I dedicated myself to creating a culture at Booker T. Washington that students could own and celebrate their success. Specifically, I committed to three leadership tasks: 1) Reviewed and signed each student’s report card. 2) Hosting quarterly academic awards ceremonies. 3) Shared our school story with the world.
Reviewed and Signed Report Cards: This may appear to be somewhat elementary for high school students, but I was amazed by the impact that a handwritten note on a student’s report card followed by a sticker would have on my school community. Messages such as, “Great job in achieving A’s in Algebra and Biology” or “Please plan to meet with me about your grades in U.S. History and English 11,” provided a social and emotional boost for my students and let my students know that I was their biggest cheerleader in moments of success and challenge. Overall, I loved having students come up to me during class change and say, “Dr. Ford, you told me to see you about my grades. When can we talk?” These moments were proof that the students believed that they were cared about and loved.
Academic Awards Ceremonies: Intentionally celebrating academic success is the best avenue that school leaders can show students that their daily commitment to investing in their education and schoolwide academic goals is honored and respected. It became a staple that at the end of each academic quarter an academic awards ceremony would be held. Consequently, students were awarded for an end of quarter GPA of 3.0 or higher. Each student would be given an invitation, and one would be sent home so parents could RSVP to attend the ceremony. Teachers could nominate students for making academic improvement in a respective content area and for being a content MVP. Students received medals and certificates for each GPA classification, and each award ceremony featured a guest speaker from the local community. The ultimate goal was to express to both the students and parents that, as a school community, we are committed to cultivating a culture of academic excellence, and each student has the boundless potential to strive for greatness.
Share Our Story: Casas challenges school staff and administrators to carry the banner of their schools and harbor a deep adulation, sense of honor, and great regard for the school that they serve. I embraced Casas’s leadership best practice and committed to telling the Booker T. Washington story of success, perseverance, and grit to the world. Simply, I wanted to be the storyteller and share information that was connected to positive vibes through the use of pictures that captured students, parents, and the school community displaying traits of hope, happiness, pride, collaboration, and synergy. Sharing our story was done in several different ways:
- Promoted school events and various highlights using social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, X, and the school website. These platforms afforded the opportunity in “real-time” to promote the great things happening at the school and keep the school community and parents connected with the school’s and students’ day-to-day activities.
- Our school is located on one of the busiest streets in Norfolk, VA thus we used the school marquee to promote updates, reminders, and positive affirmations. Some of my favorite marquee messages were, “245 BTW Scholars Made the Honor Roll This Quarter” or “At BTW, We Empower Our Students.” The marquee provided an easy way to connect with the larger community and spread the message of success.
- My weekly Sunday message to our families became a staple at Booker T. Washington. Every Sunday at 6:00 pm, parents would receive a phone call from me entitled the Booker Focus. This weekly message was designed to provide parents with updates regarding academic, and school activities, and a positive message for the week. This inspired my parents to stay connected with the school and take an active interest in their students’ education.
Leadership Practice #3: Invest in Parent and Community Engagement
Jen Schwanke underscores that school leaders must solidify and enhance their school’s role in the larger community by considering how the two can flourish together in mutually productive ways (Schwanke, 2020. The Principal Reboot: 8 Ways to Revitalize Your School Leadership). Following this, parent and community engagement was one of my primary tools for invigorating Booker T. Washington, crafting community support, creating positive student and parent experiences, and refreshing the school brand. This was achieved by working collaboratively with all stakeholders.
Create a Dream Team: Educational leader Todd Whitaker often says,” It’s about people, not programs.” This quote resonates with me because our commitment to engaging parents and the community at large was given by the “Dream Team.” The “Dream Team” consisted of:
- Sanderline, Behavior Specialist
- Dennis, Attendance Technician
- Choate-Wilder, Title 1 Teacher Assistant
- Bullock, Family Engagement Specialist
- Coach Williams, Athletic Director
- Whitby, Office Assistant
- Spellman, Special Education Teacher
- Coach Godette, Physical Education Lead Teacher
This group of educators embraced and actualized my vision, ensuring the outcomes were remarkable. Each had a role that was critical to the success of our school and collectively helped implement two programs that became the foundation of our parent and community engagement initiatives. These two programs were All Pro Dad and Incredible Moms on The Move (I-MOM). Both programs allowed partnering with parents to ensure positive student academic and behavioral outcomes, improve parent-teacher and teacher-student relationships, and improve the school environment.
- All Pro Dads –This program was launched in 1997 by Mark Merrill with the help of Tony Dungy, former head coach of the 2006 Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts. All Pro Dad is built on a football theme and features more than 50 NFL players, coaches, and alumni who speak out on the importance of being a good father. This program was implemented in schools throughout the United States to engage dads and make them active members of the school community. This program aligned with my school improvement initiative, which centered around the engagement of fathers in the school; thus, we joined the nationwide All Pro Dad network and implemented the program. Immediate success ensued with hosting the monthly All Pro Dad Breakfast, which allowed the dads to eat breakfast with their students and participate in motivational and information seminars facilitated by local clergy, alumni, and community leaders geared towards discussing challenges related to raising the children, partner relationships, and everyday life. The overall goal was to create a school network and space for fathers to discuss and work through the daily challenges of being a father. Furthermore, the program symbolized pride and a visible commitment that the school investigating our dads was a top property.
- Incredible Moms on The Move- Our commitment to partnering and investing in our dads extended to our mothers. This program was formed due to an email from a mother entitled, “Dr. Ford, What About The BTW Mothers?” With the hosting of both breakfast and dinner seminars, I-Moms was designed to create a space for mothers and their students to reflect, amplify, and explore ways to work collaboratively to thrive both at home and school. The monthly seminars were focused on mental health and wellness, positive self-affirmation, and parenting tips. With the support and collaboration of female empowerment coaches and community leaders, I-Moms became successful and allowed mothers to feel part of the school community.
In sum, I steadfastly believe that if one wants to change the trajectory of a school and community, it starts with investing in the parents and partnering with the community to facilitate high-impact, adult-centered learning that is practical and child-centered. More importantly, committing to this philosophy took a collaborative effort led by the “Dream Team,” and we became the gold standard.
Lasting Leadership Impression
Often, I characterize my work at Booker T. Washington High School as heart work—leadership that is done solely from one’s passion and deep-rooted sense of optimism. Dr. Lorraine Monroe ardently believed that working from the heart is a work of art. Thus, leaders must work in the belief that they will make a difference (Monroe, 1997. Nothing’s Impossible: Leadership Lessons from Inside and Outside the Classroom.). In retrospect, I can uncourtly say that I made a difference in the lives of my students, parents, teachers, staff, and community at large. The Booker T. Washington community, both internal and external, taught me to be a better educational leader by teaching two leadership lessons. First, worthwhile work is rarely done between nine and five. Second, all good work, most importantly work that can change lives, is worthy of our dedication and passion. Thank you, Booker T. Washington, for these lessons; I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to be the proud principal of an amazing school community.
