BonnerSprings.com

Dave Peterson may have the title of vice principal, but in his heart, he's still a teacher.

The second in command at Edwardsville Elementary said his recent promotion takes him out of the classroom, but not out of teaching.

Peterson comes to Edwardsville from the Blue Valley School District where he taught elementary school for seven years.

Although he was eager to enter the administrative side of education, he said, he was not ready to give up the day-to-day contact with children.

"The hardest part of the change was not being in the classroom," he said. "But I just figure I have 475 kids instead of a classroom full. I make sure I pop my head in the classrooms to say 'hi' and I get a chance to interact some with the kids in the hallways.

As vice principal, Peterson is in charge of discipline throughout the school. He takes an educational approach to that task as well.

"I can still be a teacher in here. I try to work through the problem with the students and we decide together how they can make better decisions," he said. "My goal is always to get the student back into the classroom. If they're sitting in my office, then they're missing something in class."

After close to two months on the job, Peterson said he is becoming more comfortable in his new surroundings.

"Now that I'm getting past all of the new things and learning my way around here, I can better concentrate on my duties," he said. "The faculty and staff here have been great."

In moving from one of the state's largest school districts to a much smaller one, Peterson said he's noticed only minor differences.

"Kids are basically the same everywhere you go," he said. "One group's problems may be a little different than another's, but kids are kids wherever you go."

No comments

Commenting is turned off for this story.