The Principal of Things

We have two guests on today’s episode and we surprised them with their appearance following a previously scheduled meeting. What provides rejuvenation in your work? Sometimes Thom goes on a walkabout. Our guests share how they made their decision on how to become administrators. Jennifer and Thom share how they made it into education. The excitement in all of our voices comes from our love for the...

In this episode we talk about lots of things. Does your week start on Mondays? Have you ever thought about starting your week on Sunday? We talk about our building wide evacuation drill and the planning and process of that drill including recording video and the plan to debrief with our full staff after that drill. We shout out our culinary program and the Campus Cafe. We give an update on our ear...

This episode comes to you from Whitmer Stadium during the junior vs. senior homecoming powderpuff game. We host a student guest that is in the culinary arts career-technical program, a football player, a basketball player, and is also a thrower for the Whitmer Panther track team. He works hard in the off-season to prepare himself as much as possible and it shows. Find out about some of Whitmer’s t...

At Whitmer High School and Whitmer Career & Technology Center we are consistently working to meet students where they are. We've heard recently from students (and teachers) that elective offerings aren't lining up to their interests. Thom shares his insights on YouScience (Brightpath) and how we are working to roll the program out to Whitmer High School. Jennifer gives a shout our to o...

On this episode we host our first student guests. Two senior students in the media arts career technical program also known as WTMR. One is interested more in the performance side and the other is more interested in the news and journalism. Thank you to our first guests. Make it a great day.

Thom is nerding out about the new audio set up for The Principal of Things. Shoutouts go to our cafeteria and food services staff. Thank you to Tony and Abbott at Jupmode. We talk about WTMR, our media arts career-technical program. Share a bit about "club days" our new to us LiveID system and more. Make it a great day.

Hello, this week we have our first guest on The Principal of Things. She's an intervention specialist at Whitmer High School. Our guest is working on her masters degree and shares about her life and why she is an educator. Mostly we asked her to join us because she's a self-proclaimed "hardcore podcaster". Make it a great day.

Hi, this is Jennifer Bronikowski, Principal of Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio, and Thom Ziems, Administrator for the Whitmer Career and Technology Center. Welcome to season two of the principal of things. In this episode we shout out Link Crew Coordinators and the work of Link Crew. We talk about safety at our first home football game including students presenting their school ID to get into...

Welcome to The Principal of Things podcast. Jennifer Bronikowski is the principal of Whitmer High School. Thom Ziems is the administrator for the Whitmer Career and Technology Center. Whitmer is a high school in Toledo, Ohio with around 2,200 students. This is the final episode of season one. Which track meet event is your life right now? We hope you have enjoyed the listening as much as we have e...

In this episode Jennifer and Thom get a bit off script. No apologies here, it's almost the end of the school year. What are the top two things you like about having a smart watch? Jennifer jumps right in with the question for Thom. He has one, she does not. This episode was recorded on the last day with seniors in the building. Today was "anything but a backpack" day. Seniors class o...

Happy birthday Jennifer! Happy (belated) birthday Thom! In this episode Thom and Jennifer talk about a recent site visit to Mayfield Schools near Cleveland. There's a bit of professional dialogue around field trips and how they can be communicated more effectively with faculty and staff. They are also feeling the sprint toward the end of the school year which includes all things graduation, sc...

In this episode, Jennifer and Thom talk about teacher appreciation in their school. They talk about one form of student recognition in the form of an academic signing day. It's also (almost) all things graduation right now. This year brings back the senior assembly and recognition. The graduation ceremony has returned to a local university. Grade level experiences for the district sends the So...

How do you greet people when you see them? When walking toward someone in a hallway, what is the appropriate distance to say hello? Jennifer and Thom have students participating in many different types of activities this time of year. Shout out to all of the teachers helping to provide students with experiences outside the classroom. Also, it's show week at Whitmer. They talk about how educati...

End of course testing is a reality for most secondary schools and Jennifer and Thom talk about how Whitmer works it into their school year. There were a couple of events that occurred during two separate lunch periods during the school week. One of them, out of the ordinary. Jennifer issues Thom a new directive. Finally, they take a look back at spring break. Make it a great day.

A first for The Principal of Things: not one, but two cohosts. KaSandra Spain and Jenny Weitro join Thom and discuss all of the things. First, the closet handed down from one AP to the next in the Deans' Center. They also shout out the work being done to print graduation seals and chat about the things they are working on in their respective offices. Finally, they share their most embarrassing mom...

In this episode we talk a bit about the Career & Technology Center (CTC). Thom and Jennifer reflect on the spring time preparations for the next school year. They talk a little about the new CTC logo reveal at the sophomore welcome assembly. Students have great perspective, they share some of their willingness to ask for impromptu opinions and conversations with students. There was an organize...

Jennifer is on location in Chicago while attending a national education conference. Thom is signing on from his dining room. We talk about some of the highlights of attending a conference including how to show appreciation for folks working in education. A simple share this week is the principal's weekly bulletin. We discuss collaboration between grades 7-12 and the curriculum department. Club...

Today Jennifer and Thom talk about the assembly to end the madness. The top 16 teams for the student march madness minute-to-win-it games had a showdown in the field house pep rally style. We share the power of using group texts with a team. There are a few shout-outs along the way and we share some ways that we recognize students other than honor roll and student of the month. Make it a great day...

In this episode we talk about a fun advisory (homeroom) competition between classes. This has been a great opportunity to get administrators into classrooms without the pressure of evaluations. We shout out some of our behind-the-scenes help that is so critical to the operation of a school. Jennifer shares about the recent band concert and we discuss what we have learned about musical performances...

In this episode we take the opportunity to brag on an awesome student and his contributions to our school. We share an easy-to-implement supervision strategy for in-between classes that promotes additional points of contact from adults to learners. One of our tPoT hosts owned a white silk suit- find out who near the end of this episode! Make it a great day!

In this episode we share details of our faculty March Madness (thanks to two teachers for organizing!). We also acknowledge the substitute teacher shortage and its impact. Our Question of the Day elicits thoughts and reflection. Make it a great day!

In this episode we share details about our school wide bingo event. We talk about an event that lead to the school experiencing a lockdown. Finally, we share about a student celebration. Make it a great day.

In this episode we talk about what happens when a small fire happens during a lunch period. We have a discussion on drills and how they prepare staff and students for the unexpected. Safety has been at the forefront of many discussions for our district this year so we also recognize our assistant superintendent for her great work on this topic. The question of the cast is, "What is something you w...

In today's episode we talk about our winter dance called Sneakerball. We share an alternative dance space that was set up during our homecoming dance in the fall. The open door made for multiple pop-ins and we finally answer a question from the listener in our "Question of the Cast" segment. Make it a great day.

In this episode we talk about the staff meeting options available for teachers. We talk about an excellent opportunity for students to engage with community members through a Stock Market Exchange event. Finally, how we work to try and connect with teachers and each other, in the end, we are all humans and human connection is important. You never know who you might run into at Target. Make it a gr...