This paper aims to celebrate an exceptional PDS (Professional Development School) Leader.
Due to the subject of the piece, no research methods were necessary for its creation.
The principal modeled effective leadership.
The piece celebrates an exceptional leader as defined by PDS.
A part of Mary Jade Haney's role as the PDS Liaison was to connect the school and university in purposeful work identified by the school. Horrell Hill had a recent influx of Latino families and there was a shared concern about the families' sense of belonging. Mary Jade thought that I could help the school and invited me to meet with Ms. Satterwhite, the principal. The three of us engaged in conversation, shared ideas and wondered about the possibilities for a collaboration.
A responsive principal, Ms. Satterwhite saw that she had two passionate individuals who could help her connect with the growing Latino community at her school. Over the following five years, Mary Jade and I worked closely with the Latino families and engaged them in a variety of activities aimed at connecting them with the school. Throughout the project, Ms. Satterwhite met with us regularly and engaged in reflection as we considered our work and the impact the collaboration was having on us, the families, teachers and children. An integral component of the project was Ms. Satterwhite's insistence that we take ownership of the work, ‘this is our project, not mine’ she would often say. She trusted us to make decisions and respected them even when they might not have been decisions she would have made. As a result of our collaborative efforts over the years, Latino families indeed are a part of the school community as evidenced by their volunteering in classrooms, and holding positions in the PTA and SIC.
In 1990, only four years after being named principal of Horrell Hill Elementary School in Hopkins, SC, Ms. Satterwhite led the school in becoming one of the inaugural schools to join the PDS Network at the University of South Carolina. Ms. Satterwhite's commitment to her community, schools, teachers, and families is evident; she works diligently at creating and sustaining trusting reciprocal relationships. Through her leadership, she creates an atmosphere where all ideas are welcome, and where all people feel a sense of belonging.
Gracias, Ms. Satterwhite.
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, López-Robertson, J. (2023), “Thank you, Ms. Satterwhite”, PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PDSP-07-2023-0026, was published with uncorrected errors introduced during the production process. This has now been corrected in the online version. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.
