Local leaders try hand at U-46 principal slots, for a day

Leaders across the Northwest suburbs weren't to be found at their regular desks Thursday.

They were in the principal's office.

More than 50 individuals served as principal for a day in Elgin Area School District U-46 schools.

Elgin City Mananger Femi Folarin was the principal of Sheridan Elementary, which his children attended years ago.

Judson University President Jerry Cain spent the morning on a campus slightly larger than his own college's: Streamwood High School.

Bartlett Police Chief Dan Palmer was at his alma mater, Elgin High.

"It was really a homecoming for me," Palmer said of the experience.

Honorary principals spent their morning visiting classrooms, participating in meetings and talking to students.

At noon, they gathered at Villa Olivia Country Club in Bartlett for a lunch.

State Superintendent Chris Koch, who was in the area to honor 10 U-46 schools and nine Barrington Community Consolidated District 220 schools for making the Illinois Honor Roll, was the featured speaker.

"What, besides hand washing, is an important thing to see in our schools?" he asked, jokingly referencing the swine flu. "What happens (on a daily basis) in a school building."

Today's efforts, Koch said, reflects effective community partnerships, and the importance of those partnerships.

"We want to empower students and families to make better decisions," he said.