An Interview with Newcomer
Mrs. Newcomer, the new principal at Hamilton, poses in front of the school’s new office suite. Photo by Cora Kuhlenbeck.
Conducted on Thursday, October 3rd around 2:40 PM in the principal’s office: Has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe yourself?
I think I'm pretty easy going for the most part and pretty down-to-earth. I like to laugh and have a good time, but I also know that I have to maintain professionalism and all of those things that go on with the job that I have. I think that I am competitive; I like to work hard but I like to have fun with my family and have a balance in my life. It's important that, as much as I love supporting things and people in teams and activities here at Hamilton, there are also things that I have to do at home too so I can't be here 24/7.
What is your favorite school subject?
I was an English teacher, but thinking back on it, I probably should have been a science teacher because I love that inquiry piece. I'm really fascinated by Anatomy and Physiology and sports nutrition. Stuff like that is really fun for me.
Do you have any fun facts or anecdotes?
I was really an active student in high school. I played volleyball and softball and golf and then I was in drama and the Spanish club. I went to a school where I was able to do all those things, so it is really important for me to advocate for those possibilities for students. I know that in a larger school there is more competitiveness and not everyone can make the team; whereas, when I was younger, at the school I went to, if you wanted to be a part of something you could. I know that culture is a little bit different. I also worked really hard; my family was not well off and so along with all those high school experiences I did work a lot of hours too so I understand that balance. I was a collegiate athlete as well so I played golf in college and I think coaching and being involved at all ages of your life is really important.
What made you want to be a principal?
“Nothing. I never thought I would be a principal; it was never, ever something that I wanted to be.”
Nothing. I never thought I would be a principal; it was never, ever something that I wanted to be. The only reason why I am here and ended up where I am right now is because other people saw things in me and encouraged me to use my skill set in different ways. I never thought I was going to be a teacher either and I started teaching and I loved it. Then I thought I was going to be a lifer in the classroom. [Then I] got a little bit of a taste [for] curriculum and instruction--I love working with adults too and coaching them--so then the next step was somebody asked me to be [an] assistant principal. Then that principal left and asked me to take over for her, so there was a series of jobs that I never even applied for and I was just appointed to. [Being a principal] was never something that I strived to be; it was just doing things that happened to me.
What other schools did you work at?
I worked in Waukesha my whole life. I was at Waukesha South, and then at the District Office, then at Waukesha North, and then back at Waukesha South.
Did you go to school in Wisconsin?
No, I'm from Iowa.
Was there something about Hamilton that appealed to you?
Yes. My husband used to work in the district and I've always admired the achievement here. I was curious about how that happens, coming from a district where we struggled with some of that a little bit. It was always fascinating to me try to get in and learn from other places that had experienced success; so that is really something that I am interested in. I like the idea of a town with one high school, and I'm coming from a district where there were many: five high schools. The town was split on Friday nights with games and different people supporting different schools, so it's really nice being here where everyone is a fan of Hamilton. It just has a very different feel when the community all comes together.
You mentioned that your husband used to work in the District, can you tell me more about him?
His name is Steve and he worked in 6 Red at Templeton. The graduating class of last year would have been the last class he [had] of 6th graders. He is a principal also, so he’s [working] in Greenfield right now. But he loved all of his time at Hamilton and he would talk about how great Hamilton was. It always made me curious about what the school district was like so now I’m here.
Do you have any personal goals for Hamilton?
“It's really important to me to have students and teachers feel as though they can take risks and fail [and know] it's okay and learn and move forward.”
Yes, I do. And some of them might not be popular and some of them might be a mindset. It's really important to me to have students and teachers feel as though they can take risks and fail [and know] it's okay and learn and move forward. I see a lot of people wanting to be perfect the first time around and almost getting scared of what it feels like to fail or ask for help. Those are some barriers that I hope to bridge a little bit because the way we learn a lot is by failing and asking for help and learning what we can do to fix things. I see a lot of students feeling stress and [I want to help] them realize it's okay if you get a B in an AP class, because the fact that you’ve signed up for an AP class, and you’re experiencing that rigor, is going to be so much better for you than if you were in an on-level course, for instance, and getting an A. That B in an AP class, you should be celebrating that and you shouldn’t be sad about it and wanting to drop out of the class or feel bad about yourself and those sort of things. I see that as a lot of social pressure that students are feeling and we need to be able to be really honest about that and talk through that. It's okay to fail sometimes and it's okay to ask for help. That is a personal goal of mine.
I also see an opportunity to celebrate differences. I think we have a lot of wonderful things in the school, and I am just scratching the surface on a lot of them, but I would love to see students with things that they feel are different being celebrated [and feeling] as though they can be open and honest and prideful about who they are and how they are different than other people. I see a lot of compliance, which is great, but I would love to see students asking questions and advocating and going about that in a respectful way. Those are the kinds of conversations I would really encourage. Hopefully, I can bring that and be that person for students.
What is the plan with the courtyard? Can students go and eat there?
“I would love it if we could come up with a plan that is supported by the teachers, as well as responsible students, to see if we can get that courtyard working.”
I am huge on students advocating for themselves. I’ve had a couple of conversations with people; I’m just not going to be the one to do it. I'm not going to be the one going out there and cleaning it up. I will certainly put on my work gloves and help, but I’m really not much for top-down directives. So if there is a grassroots effort, a group of students through a club or whatever that might be, who come and give me a proposal, [and] give me a plan for what is going on. I would love it if we could come up with a plan that is supported by the teachers, as well as responsible students, to see if we can get that courtyard working. The way I envision it is as an extension of commons, maybe? If we can have a supervisor out there for part of the time, that would be a nice way to start it for students who have earned that privilege. [We could get] some of the picnic tables redone, and [get] a couple of games of bags or whatever out there, and have it be a nice place to decompress and still have people know it is a privilege to be there. So I am all up for [opening up the courtyard], but somebody has got to bring that to me and take on the responsibility of doing it and maintaining it.
Is this the same sort of mentality you have for other potential changes at Hamilton?
For sure.
I know you said you aren't a fan of top-down [directives] but are there any changes students should expect within the next year, specifically in regards to passing time or cell phone usage in the classroom?
I don't think so; there are some of those things that are put in place [due to] school board policies that have been vetted for primarily safety reasons. Those are things that I agree with and I'm not touching so that’s done. I agree that phones are a distraction; I like the fact that you have cell phone caddies here. I’ve come from places where that’s not the expectation and the level of distraction in those classes has been really high. It's really nice to be able to walk into a classroom and, although students might not appreciate not having their phones right in their pocket or on their desks, it truly makes a huge difference from an observer’s perspective how they’re taking notes, how they engage in the learning, then, truly, how that plays out in their grades, their achievements, and ability to focus. All of those things are very much connected with trying to remove those distractions in life and one of those is cell phones during the day so that I agree with.
I know that students have asked for another minute for passing time. I think that would be something that we would have to go through the school board for because we are touching instructional minutes at that point. There are some things that students think that I can give a blessing to and we can move on and change things but it is a little more complicated than that. In a lot of those situations I am really happy to help coach students through the proper avenues so that we can get to a place where, even if they get told no, they can at least get to a point where they have had an experience navigating a situation and feeling good about the process. Sometimes you do get told no, and you have to deal with it and figure out how to come back at it--if it's really important to you--with some negotiation pieces. Understand, there is a time to stand up for something and a time to sit down and to understand when those events are appropriate.
