Chapter 6
A Great Day at Campbell
Pedagogy of Personal Leadership &
Character Development
EXAMPLE #2
This chapter chronicles the story of an unusually successful high school principal and why he was so good at reaching students in positive ways that productively influenced them for good.
Cobb County extends well into the northwestern Atlanta suburbs; however, Campbell High School is on the southeastern-most side of the district, situated more closely to inner city Atlanta than other schools.
During the years I served as a substitute teacher (2006-09), Campbell's student body demographic distribution consisted of a Black and Hispanic majority and a White and Asian minority. Overall, the student body was highly diverse, with students hailing from 40 different countries.
Although Black and Hispanics dominated the student body population, Campbell's principal—Kehl Arnson—was a White man who was born and raised deep into the American Midwest in the State of Wisconsin. Despite his own significant racial, cultural, regional, and other background differences, Arnson was able to effectively transcend it all to develop the best relationships with students of any administrator I have ever personally observed.
Unlike the other principals in the District, Arnson saw the morning announcements as a powerful and significant opportunity to connect personally with his students every day.
He was right...
The reason it worked so well was not just that he delivered the announcements. Rather, it was because of how he delivered them. His approach was never dry, detached, or monotonic; nor was he overly serious or condescending. Instead, he was consistently warm and engaging, positive and approachable, friendly and kind, authentic and genuine.
Then, at the conclusion of his announcements each day, he would repeat a brief morning mantra of his own creation that became his personal aphoristic trademark as Campbell High School's principal.
His morning mantra was similar to the one Lynnda Crowder-Eagle had developed with her counselor at Kincaid Elementary. However, instead of having the students stand and repeat the mantra immediately following the pledge of allegiance, Principal Arnson simply repeated the mantra himself as the last thing he uttered at the conclusion of each morning's announcements.
His morning mantra was...
Make good choices;
Do the right thing,
And have a great day at Campbell!
As you can imagine, this unusual practice naturally caused the SAL Guy's ears to perk up the moment I first heard it—and all the more so when I heard it repeatedly over the course of dozens of different substitute teaching jobs spanning several years.
The more I heard Arnson deliver his heartfelt morning announcements and repeat his sincere daily mantra, the more I wanted to meet him and learn about his unique technique and proactive educational leadership approach. I was especially curious about what kind of an impact his efforts might be having on the students at Campbell High School.
In time, my curiosity grew great enough that I proactively sought out Arnson for an interview in conjunction with querying a handful of his students about the impact and influence their principal was having on them. I specifically asked several of his students: "What do you think about Principal Arnson's morning mantra: Make good choices; Do the right thing; And have a great day at Campbell?
They responded as follows:
"Basically, I'm used to it. [But] it makes you want to do the right thing because you hear it over and over and over again. I do kind of look forward to it. And it doesn't feel the same if he [Arnson] doesn't say it. Once in a while he forgets. But when someone else does it, it's still good."
—11th grade Black Nigerian-born male
"It's pretty cool that he does it every day—that he's consistent."
—11th grade Black female
"It's cool because he's cool. When someone else does it, it's like lame."
—11th grade Asian female
"Kinda became his catchphrase—kids just associate him with his saying."
—11th grade White female
Note: This next quote came from a girl who literally finished my sentence when I started saying Arnson's morning mantra as part of my interview question. That she would so quickly and spontaneously do this spoke volumes.
She then went on to say...
"It was kinda corny at first, and I thought, 'oh, my God, stop doing that!' But after a while, it's a positive thing you actually start looking forward to. You kinda start liking it. That thing he [says] make me like him more. He makes it sound realistic because he says it every day, so it seems like he means it. When other teachers say it, it isn't the same. Indirectly maybe it helps students. His personality is open, friendly, and he talks like we're on the same level with him. He's not afraid to make fun of himself."
—10 grade Indian female
"It's kinda nerdy, but it helps, and sometimes we say it to ourselves."
—11th grade Black female (International Baccalaureate student)
"Everybody laughs at it, but you remember it throughout the day and apply it. You always remember it."
—11th grade Black female (International Baccalaureate student)
"I don't know if it's effective, but it does stay in your mind."
—11th grade Black female (International Baccalaureate student)
I asked one female student if she could think of a real-life situation where Arnson's morning mantra influenced her to make a good decision. She said "Yes," and told me the following story:
"Some girl dropped money [a $20 bill] on the floor and I found it. I really wanted to take it but I didn't because I remembered Mr. Arnson's saying. I was having a crappy day and I thought, 'Hey, this money would brighten my day.' But then I changed my mind and gave it back. Right after giving it back I felt kinda dumb, but I felt good after a while because I knew it was the right thing to do."
While Arnson's morning mantra obviously had an impact of varying kinds and degrees depending on the student, one thing was clear: that impact was overwhelmingly POSITIVE and PRODUCTIVE.
Principal Kehl Arnson
During the course of my interview with Arnson, I discovered several clues as to why he was so successful as the top leader at Campbell High School—and why he was so good at developing positive relationships with his students.
First, Arnson made a concerted personal effort to be out and about among the students as much as possible. Rather than hide away in his office—as some administrators and leaders tend to do—Arnson visited classrooms, and hallways in between classes, on a regular basis whether he had official observational duties or not, and the kids loved him for it.
However, his success came not from the fact that he spent time among the students.
Rather, his success came from how he conducted himself when he was out and about among them.
First, Arnson was unusually cheerful, friendly, and warm with students. His interactions with them were always appropriate; but, there was nothing austere, condescending, or rigid about his style. As a substitute teacher, I personally witnessed Arnson openly and warmly conversing with students in hallways in between classes and the parking lot after school as students were boarding busses or walking home or to their vehicle.
It was clear to me that he both liked and respected his students.
It was just as clear that his students both liked and respected their Principal.
Second, Arnson would serve as a guest speaker to students in their classrooms whenever he was asked to do so. He did this because it gave him an opportunity to increase his interaction with them. As the cafeteria workers pointed out to him: "The students love you because you stand and talk to them and hear them out."
Over time, news of Arnson's caring and charismatic leadership style—and the success that accompanied it—began to spread throughout the community. In 2006, Arnson was named Smyrna's Citizen of the Year by the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce. His achievement was then documented in a local newspaper, the Marietta Daily Journal, which noted in its article that Arnson was the first school principal to ever receive the prestigious community award.
In time, this external community validation began to trickle its way down to the Campbell student body, prompting a senior student in a sociology class to ask Arnson: "How did you get to be "The Man" in Smyrna? You're more popular than the Mayor!" Arnson modestly deflected this praise by replying simply: "I just try to let everyone know how great y'all [the students] are."
When asked to distill his educational leadership style down into a single nugget or sound bite, Arnson replied: "It has to come back to loving and caring about the students. And the kids know I care about them."
Arnson started his career as a classroom teacher (English and drama) and athletic coach (football and taekwondo) before moving on to administrative roles later in his career. As a principal, he originally began repeating his now-famous morning mantra because he felt the need to spend some time "telling students what I thought was important."
He explained further that he started by taking a little bit of time out at each opportunity to teach students things that would help them build a healthy lifestyle. He had a deep desire to help his students be successful and believed strongly that the keys to success in school and life "should not be a secret."
Over time, Arnson's many positive messages to his students eventually evolved into the simple, three-phrase mantra that became a staple of his school-wide announcements each morning: Make good choices; Do the right thing, and have a great day at Campbell.
The mantra was clear, direct, positive, simple, and upbeat.
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| Back cover of 2007-08 Campbell High School Yearbook |
The following year, the Yearbook Staff put the mantra on the back of the 2007-08 yearbook.
Despite the visible racial and cultural divide between Arnson and much of Campbell's student body, the students overwhelmingly liked their principal. The fact that he looked and sounded different did not seem to matter at all to them once they realized how authentic he was and how genuinely he cared about them. More importantly, they respected him and clearly understood the high expectations he had for all students.
In his own words: "Every student knows what I expect and it has an effect. They behave better when I'm around." To illustrate this phenomenon, a school library aide once commented to him: "I should have known you were here in the library. When you're in here, the students are quieter."
Arnson balances his high expectations of students with a bright, cheerful, fun-loving, and warm disposition. His is a truly unique personality, which is unusually authentic and genuine. Most importantly, he is consistently true to himself. It was clear he was not trying to copy anyone else or put on a show for students or teachers.
He was just the truest version of Kehl Arnson that he could be, every single day of the year.
Another example of his fun-loving personality was on display each Friday morning, when Arnson would come on the loud speaker and begin his announcements by jubilantly declaring: "Good morning Campbell High School, it's Friday!" after which Arnson and a small group of students would enthusiastically exclaim a loud and long "Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy" in unison into the intercom speaker. Though a very small and seemingly inconsequential thing, I came to cherish this fun and heartwarming little tradition and found myself looking forward to it whenever I got a substitute teaching job at Campbell on a Friday. The sincerity, originality, humanity, and good nature shone through in this little tradition—and others like it—that Kehl established during his time as principal at Campbell.
The difference Principal Arnson made in the lives of his students was further revealed by a conversation a female student had with a visiting videographer who had been coming to the school for nine (9) consecutive years. This particular videographer noticed an unusual happiness among Campbell students in general. She was so intrigued by the contrast between Campbell students and those at other high schools that she asked one of the students: "The kids are so much happier than they used to be. There's a difference from past years. Tell me, what's the big change?"
The student then turned and pointed straight at Kehl and said: "The difference is Mr. Arnson."
The videographer later told Arnson that he visits a lot of different schools with his work and there is something different and special about Campbell's student body. He then commented to Arnson that "if you can figure out just what it is you're doing and bottle it, you'll be a millionaire."
Becoming rich was never Arnson's first priority.
His first priority was simply being the best principal he could be by consistently caring for his staff and students.
In conjunction with these compelling anecdotes, the empirical evidence is also clear: Arnson's leadership impact on academic performance, graduation rates, and other tangible metrics of student success was tangible and significant. As the following data illustrates, every single measurable category saw improvement on Arnson's watch.
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- How did Principal Arnson's leadership style demonstrate his belief in the Existential Worth and Equality of all his students, regardless of race, gender, cultural background, or familial upbringing?
- Do you think Principal Arnson's educational approach promoted positive race relations and other elements of school unity? Why or why not?
- In your view, what was Principal Arnson's greatest strength in working with students at Campbell High School?
- What might other leaders, administrators, teachers, and educational support staff take away (learn) from Principal Arnson's personal example, character, and leadership style?
—Dr. JJ
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