OPINION: Select a Great Leader as Superintendent
Shahan Soghikian wrote the following opinion on the search for a new Superintendent of the Piedmont Unified School District:
“We owe our children the opportunity to learn in an open, dynamic environment unconstrained by the target of any one learning approach or pre-determined future. They will be artists, scientists, technologists, doctors, writers, athletes, philanthropists or zookeepers because they are inspired by what they learn, who instructs them and their own discovery process in the world. Whether they go to an Ivy League or community college, they need to find their own path. Let’s first and foremost select a great leader who understands the breadth of our community and the wide range of opportunities our children may choose to pursue. Let’s inspire them to learn by creating compelling curriculum led by energetic, forward thinking teachers. Let’s teach them how to think critically, make a good argument, write a compelling statement, and be good collaborators through group projects and team sports & activities. We have the good fortune of being in a community with amazing parents who volunteer their time in many different way to support and build programs embraced by the school district. Let’s all work to insure this open, supportive and collaborative environment continues to be fostered by the new superintendent. Let’s focus on selecting someone with a proven skill set in these areas, not by where they went to school, what they studied or their own personal areas of interest. The world is much bigger than that.”
