I wonder if kids still “get sent to the office” in elementary school these days, or if there is some new and innovative way of enforcing basic discipline? In elementary school, Mr. Ginther was our principal. I thought he was at least 100 years old. Actually someone told recently me that a retired Mr. Ginther recently turned 80. He was nearly 10 years younger than I am now during the time period that I had him pegged at 100. That is encouraging.
I did not realize at the time that it takes a special person to fulfill the role of principal at the elementary level. You have to blend solid discipline with gentleness and compassion for children experiencing socialization in a structured environment for the first time. The group of children you are responsible for come from every imaginable home environment. In the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s, I do think that there were more stable homes. At least that was the case in our little neighborhood school.

In the 4th grade, our teacher’s name was Mr. Waltenberger. I understand that he retired fairly recently. He was a great teacher. But all of us pushed his good nature to the limit periodically. One of my friends in that class during the 1971-1972 school year chose to push such limits on the day we were asked to compose letters inviting our parents to the annual school open house. In her own words, she describes the infraction in the following manner:

I got sent to the office, because the letter I wrote to my parents for Open House Night was inappropriate. I wrote that they probably really didn’t want to be there, etc. Mr. Ginther set me straight. He told me that was not the kind of letter that my parents would want to see. I folded like a deck of cards and rewrote it!

The truth is that we all folded like a deck of cards during visits to Mr. Ginther’s office. He possessed the ideal blend of stern discipline with genuine kindness. As I recall, he would stop and visit with us on the playground during recess. He knew all of our names and he knew our parents too. I recall being in his office on one occasion with a couple of my comrades when he shared his disappointment in our academic performance. He was confident we could better. Of course on the playground we played down the whole thing and referred to him as “Ginther.” But that was all talk. I think all of us down deep respected his concern for us. But boys are not about to admit anything of the kind!

Today principals are under immense pressure to meet state mandated standards of testing. At least that is the case in Texas. There is more paperwork. There are countless emails to answer. There are an increasing number of meetings and endless training events to attend.

I wonder if principals today have time to hang out with the kids on the playground. I hope public schools nationwide have not given up on the ideal of an elementary principal forming relationships with kids. After nearly 4 decades I still recall my interactions with Mr. Ginther. He did a great job creating a secure and positive environment for us to learn about life. As I think about him today, I am reminded of the importance of interacting in a positive way with the elementary age children in my sphere of influence. Untold good can be done in a child’s life!

I don’t get sent to the office anymore, but I must confess that when Jan calls my hand on my periodic bad attitudes, I fold like a deck of cards…