The Gazette-Enterprise

As a first-year principal, Weinert Elementary head honcho Rebecca Marsh has taken a very hands-on approach to the job.

That’s why it came as such a shock to everyone on the school’s campus when Marsh decided Tuesday to step aside and make way for a successor — current fifth-grader Isaiah Briones.

Alright, so maybe it was just a temporary arrangement, but Marsh is still a woman of her word. After watching Isaiah collect hundreds of “Whale Done” tickets, which are given out for various achievements in and around the classroom, the administrator decided to share her daily duties with the young man — if only for a day.

“It’s always hard to relinquish power, isn’t it?” Marsh joked. “But I think that Mr. Briones has worked very hard earning his Whale Done tickets and has shown responsibilities and so it was easy to let those reins go to him.”

But Marsh said that the process was also made a bit easier after witnessing Isaiah’s commitment to all the areas of his new job.

“He’s a fantastic kid and works very hard and he’s very prepared,” Marsh said. “I told him, ‘You know, you need to dress professionally,’ and he said, ‘Oh, yes, ma’am — absolutely.’

“He’s taken a lot of responsibilities, from morning announcements to duty to walkthroughs — things like that.”

Isaiah even got a crash course in adapting to changes on the fly, as the school’s cafeteria happened to be getting a facelift during his tenure as principal.

“Today’s a special day because our cafeteria, thanks to the bond, is getting reconstructed,” Marsh said. “They have torn out the wall, so we’ve had to move our location. We have an outdoor eating area thanks to the picnic tables on loan from Saegert and we have an indoor eating area in the gym and fortunately the rain didn’t come today, so we’re able to have outdoor lunch with all the kindergarten students. So he kind of directed that today.”

Sure enough, Isaiah could be seen around lunch time patrolling the makeshift cafeterias in his black slacks and green shirt and tie ensemble, pointing each student towards their respective table while monitoring the behavior of each one. Walking primarily with his hands behind his back, he even appeared to have the body language of an administrator down pat, revelling in the prize that took him almost half a year’s worth of good deeds to earn.

“I had to save up 200 Whale Done tickets,” Isaiah said. “(We get them) for different reasons — for being good, for helping someone out or for getting 100 on (assignments).

“It took a while — about five months.”

The tickets are part of the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) program — a district-wide initiative that aims to reward students who make good decisions at school. In order to reinforce the benefits of good behavior, teachers dole out tickets and then assign different values to various prizes. At that point, it’s up to the student to decide whether or not to choose smaller items or try and save up for the grand prize.

“Our PBS teams of teachers put together a system of rewards,” Marsh said. “Each Whale Done ticket has a picture of a whale on it and it basically follows our motto, which is, ‘We are respectful, we are responsible and we are safe.’ And as long as they’re following those rules, they can earn tickets.”

When asked if his momentary gig might lead to a teaching or administrative position sometime in the future, Isaiah gave a resounding “maybe.”

But even if the first pint-sized principal decides that the job is better left to the professionals, Marsh said that there will be other students who get the chance to see for themselves.

“We have one or two who are close,” Marsh said. “So they may be coming in any day now. In fact, we have a first-grader who’s been saving up for principal of the day, so she might just make it.

“That should be interesting to see.”

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