Vita

Jason Childress

4540 Hickory Meadows

Keller, TX. 76244

jchildress@nisdtx.org

940-210-5244

Objective: To secure a responsible, challenging administration position

Skills/Experiences:

• 2 years Administration experience
• 8 years teaching experience
• Taught 8^th grade science, High School sciences, PAL’s and Exploratory Sciences
• Coached for 6 years
• Middle School Athletic Coordinator, Southlake
• State Championship football coach
• Supervised and evaluated coaches on job performance
• GT Certified
• CPR/AED Certified
• CDL Certified
• Peer Assistance and Leadership Certified Instructor
• Developed and Implemented PAL program for Southlake
• Highly Qualified Teacher
• L.E.A.P. Participant (Leadership Experiences for Aspiring Principals)

Education:

Masters in Educational Leadership

Lamar University

Beaumont, TX

Bachelor of Arts and Science

Teaching fields in E.S.S. and Biology

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Graduation date May, 11, 2002

High School Diploma

Frenship High School, Wolfforth, TX

Graduated with Honors, May 1995

Honors:

3 Time State Champion Football Coach (2004, 2005, 2006)

Recognized Teacher Dawson Middle School (2003)

National Honor Society

Who’s Who

Work Experience:

Assistant Principal (9^th Grade House Principal) (2010-Present)

Byron nelson High School Northwest ISD

Serve as the 9^th grade house principal while assisting with other school duties. These duties include textbooks, safety and secuirty and PDAS assignments

Teacher- Chisholm Trail Middle School Northwest ISD (2008-2010)

Serve as the 8^th grade Team Lead and teach 8^th grade science at Chisholm Trail, while completing my Masters in Educational Leadership. Involved in LEAP program with NWISD

Teacher/Coach Sanger High School (2007-2008)

Taught at Linda Tutt High School in Sanger in the DAEP/Choice High School Program. Ran and operated the science department at Linda Tutt, which included Biology, Physics, Chemistry and IPC.

Teacher/Coach/Athletic Coordinator Dawson Middle School (2003-2006)

While in Carroll ISD, I taught Exploratory Sciences (Environmental, Oceanography), Secrets of Success and PAL’s. I also functioned as campus Athletic Coordinator for both boys and girls athletics while coaching football, basketball, and track. I developed and implemented the Peer Assistance and Leadership program at DMS.

Teacher/Coach Atkins Jr. High School Lubbock, TX (2002-2003)

Taught 8^th grade Earth Science, while coaching football, basketball, and track. I served as the Head Basketball coach at Atkins while there.

References:

Ryan Wilson Trudie Jackson Linda Parker

WilsonR@cisdmail.com 214-649-4302 lparker@nisdtx.org

Dawson Middle School Carroll High School Byron Nelson High School

Southlake, TX Southlake, TX Trophy Club , TX

Rob Thornell

Chisholm Trail Middle School

817-215-0600

rthornell@nisdtx.org

Reflection from Interview

My interview with Mrs. Linda Parker was very informative and eye opening to some of the things that I may face as a superintendent. She is a certified superintendent and is currently an acting principal. I found that we have many of the same views on leadership, which is one of the reasons that I chose her as my site supervisor. We seem to react very similar to situations that come up. Beginning with the first questions, Mrs. Parker began to impress me with her ideas and thoughts on superintendence and leadership. I asked what her definition of leadership is and she answered it, but also answered question 5 without evening realizing it. Leadership to her is “leading by example and acting ethically and morally in doing so.” Mrs. Parker went on to say that she feels the need to be the hardest working person on campus but knows when to let go and let others shine. As we talked, I realized that there were many positives and negatives to the job. We discussed the fact that it is the same with any job. One may view a negative aspect as “dealing with the public” on a regular basis, but at times that would be a positive. Just as in any leadership role, you have to take the good with the bad and hopefully the knowledge you have gained through life’s experiences will transfer in the difficult situations. One of the most important things that I gained from the talk was the need to build a relationship with, not only the board, but all “stakeholders” in the district. The difficult part of this is always feeling the need to be “on” and ready to discuss a variety of topics at anytime. However, the personality trait of being a “people person” helps her in these situations with her job. Learning to work with all types of people is a skill that I am fortunately learning now and will certainly come in handy in the future on a much larger scale. She went on to discuss the leadership skills necessary to be successful. One must possess a variety of skills and be able to “be a situational leader.” This type of leadership will allow the superintendent to put competent people in the right places and feel no need to micro-manage. Improving all staff member’s performance was another interesting topic. She feels that having a variety of professional development is vital. Not only that, but allowing the teachers in the district to have a say so in their development through surveys and needs assessments is a good way to build ownership in their professional development. We ended the discussion with Mrs. Parker saying that, even as a principal, she had to get used to the number of decisions she makes on a day to day basis. We discussed the fact that this must be multiplied as a superintendent. Thus, the need for surrounding yourself with competent people is even more important. This assignment was very insightful and allowed me to see what working as a superintendent may look like. I learned that it is important to be flexible but to stand firm in your ethical beliefs and what is best for the kids of the district. Always have a situational style of leadership and be willing to treat people differently according to their needs.

Blogs in Education

Blogging is a great tool for educators as long as they are passionate about what they are saying in their blog. As the number of followers increase, so will your credibility with those viewers. Using a blog as a professional development tool is a fast and easy way to get information out to your staff and also receive feedback, immediately.

Action Research

Action research is a great tool for education. Pretty simply put it is a process, or research that involves planning, action, monitoring and reflection. These steps do not necessarily have an order. For instance, you may find yourself reflecting as you are planning; or monitoring during action. In Action research that I have been apart of in the past, it is sometimes difficult to keep theses steps separate as they tend to run together during the process. Action Research uses action as a means of research, a plan for change is put into action and then monitored and analysed for success. Action Research is basically educators trying to better understand and improve their practice. It can function at an individual level, or as a collaboration of teachers/educators. One other great aspect of this type of research is that it can be used at any level. From the most complex issues to the simple everyday struggles in education. Basically, any issue that needs to be changed or fixed can be attempted through action research. I think of it as a living document that can be changed and adapted as you progress to reach your goal.