Seven years ago, Brian Stevens of Westside Community Schools in Omaha made the move from the mathematics classroom to administration. He spent two years as a dean of students at Westside High School, then became an assistant principal at Westside Middle School. Now, he is in his first year as principal at Westside’s Westbrook Elementary.
“I feel very fortunate as an administrator that I taught high school math,” said Stevens, who earned his Master of Arts for Teachers degree from the UNL Department of Mathematics in 2012. “There were times I had to come up with unique strategies to engage students, and teaching math provided me experiences that have made me a stronger instructional leader. My math background has been instrumental in allowing me to be a data-driven leader. Knowing how to organize, analyze, and understand data is so important in my role and my math background gave me the tools to be able to do that.”
Stevens said he benefited greatly from the opportunity to collaborate with teachers from across the state through courses in Nebraska Algebra and the Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes.
“When you get to spend entire summer days talking with other teachers in your content area, it's almost impossible not to come away with something. And those connections turned into a network of people to reach out to on a regular basis. Just today I was texting with a colleague from Nebraska Algebra and its been over 10 years since we took those classes together,” said Stevens, a Cohort 3 and New Teacher Network participant in the NebraskaMATH grant.
This network of teachers has helped Stevens over the years to share resources, brainstorm ideas and learn more about what is going on around the state, from a more general educational standpoint.
Nebraska Algebra also exposed him to math content and instructional strategies that he had not seen in his undergraduate education, leading to many new ideas that he was able to start using in his classroom right away.
“I distinctly remember learning a method to teach factoring and being excited to get to use it in my classroom the next school year,” Stevens said. “It was those ‘a ha’ moments throughout the program that helped me improve my instruction. I also just really enjoyed being in class with other math teachers. It didn't take much to form some strong relationships with people. We learned a lot and we also had a lot of fun in the process.”
As principal, Stevens is now in a position to support the teachers in his building on a daily basis, whether that is assisting them in solving a problem, giving them feedback on their instruction, or taking something off their plate. He also was motivated to become a principal to make a broader impact on the students in the building, as well as in the district.
“I felt that I had the skills and demeanor to work with students who displayed challenging behaviors, which is what my first admin position required of me,” Stevens said. “I also wanted to continue to learn about education, in general, and the processes and decisions that go into making a school successful.”
It was hard to Stevens to name just one thing he enjoys the most about being a principal, but he decided that the best part is witnessing students being successful and enjoying being at school.
“Seeing students smile on a daily basis gives me energy and motivates me to continue to do my best for them,” Stevens said.
- Lindsay Augustyn, CSMCE