Oct. 6, 2023
Dear Woodland Families,
The author Simon Sinek once said, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” ‘Caring for others’ aptly characterizes our four Woodland school principals.
The Woodland School District 50 Principal’s job description contains 46 specific duties and responsibilities that our principals are expected to complete every day, and the common denominator of all of them is that they require our school leaders - Stacey Anderson, Tim Sheldon, Tiffany Drake, and Jared Reardon - to take care of someone or something in order to keep the school running smoothly and effectively.
In an effort to share a side of these exceptional educators that perhaps you don’t always get to see at school, I thought it might be fun to share a few facts about my colleagues to help our community get to know them a little better:
Stacey Anderson, the principal of Woodland Primary School, just started her 16th year at Woodland. It is abundantly clear in her day-to-day interactions with her students how much she adores our youngest Wildcats, but did you know that Stacey is also a huge dog lover? Her dog’s name is Jujubee, and the students at Primary love talking to Mrs. Anderson about their pets.
Jared Reardon is our newest principal, and has just under 16 weeks of service to our learning community. You may still be getting to know Mr. Reardon, but did you know that he has an identical twin brother? Sometimes it seems like there are two of him at Elementary School since he covers so much ground visiting classrooms throughout the school!
Tim Sheldon is in his 3rd year as principal at Intermediate School. The students in his building know that as a principal Mr. Sheldon totally ROCKS, but did you know that in his college days he was the lead singer in a cover band? These days, Tim uses his considerable vocal and guitar-playing talents to serenade his two children.
Woodland Middle School principal Tiffany Drake has devoted the last 23 years to serving our middle school learning community. Our students love Mrs. Drake for the enthusiasm and energy she brings to WMS each day. She is the head cheerleader for our middle school students and staff, so it will not surprise you to learn that Tiffany is a diehard football mom. When she is not at school, she is usually at Warren Township HS cheering on her son. A native Louisianian, Mrs. Drake also cheers for the Louisiana State University Tigers - once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat!
It’s sometimes easy to forget that our school leaders have families, hobbies, interests, and aspirations outside of school, just as our students and staff members do. These characteristics help make our principals who they are, and their unique talents and backgrounds help them to model and reinforce the concepts of life-long learning and the benefits of a well-rounded education.
I invite you to join me in showing our collective appreciation to these dedicated leaders and #ThankaPrinicpal with an email to your child’s principal or a kind word about them on social media. Throughout the year, our school leaders may only hear from stakeholders when there is a problem that needs solving or an issue that a parent/guardian feels needs attention. If you have positive feedback or a success story to share, this would be a great time to send it along and show a little “TLC” to four individuals who care for so many others each day.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent
Woodland D50
