You can Trust Him with the Keys

Did you ever wonder why so many coaches become principals? It isn’t because they know more about teaching than most teachers. It isn’t because they are knowledgeable of many different subjects. It certainly isn’t because coaching teaches how to deal with middle aged staff members.

Coaches become principals because you can trust them with the keys.

Coaches have to be at school at all hours of the day and night. They work well beyond the regular school day or week. Rarely do they have someone else around who can make decisions for them. They have to know how to make decisions on their own, and they can’t leave the building unlocked. For this basic reason, they are often considered administrative material.

I did not think about this when I became a principal, but I had been a coach. I did have to secure the building when I left. There was also an unwritten dress code which I had  mastered; the male teacher uniform (short sleeve shirts; multiple colored pens, and pocket protector) and coach's uniform (pants with a stripe and a whistle), and a massive key ring to open all the lockers, closets, rooms etc.

We had a consultant come to the district when I was a principal. He pointed out all of a coach's qualifications for administration, while trying to help us learn to be more than guardians of the building. He was hired to help us become educational leaders as well as keepers of the keys.

He did our training in a humorous way. Our consultant explained how, in Texas, the principal uniform required polyester pants and a white belt. This got all of us male principals thinking about how we dressed. It also got my staff thinking. The week after he left they presented me with a new wardrobe obtained from Good Will.

I had already ditched my key ring for one master key.