FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Principal Impression: It’s ‘Neat’

Although George Willson has been principal of Los Amigos High School for just six months, on Tuesday he introduced a new man for the job.

“This is Tim Boyle, your new principal,” Willson repeatedly told students and faculty.

Boyle was indeed named principal, but just for the day. He filled in as part of a statewide program under which executives took over the head administration position to get a firsthand look at how public high schools operate.

The Principal for a Day program is part of Educational Partnership Week, a joint venture between schools and industry coordinated by the California Educational Partnership Consortium, an alliance of 12 business organizations and state education agencies. Since going statewide last year, the program has doubled to the 1,500 to 2,000 schools that participated Tuesday.

Under Willson’s guidance, Boyle, a manager of process-mechanical engineering at E & L Engineering in Long Beach, performed all of the duties of a principal, including patrolling the campus, checking on students wandering out of class and disciplining them when necessary.

“It gives you a different perspective to look at a school from an administrator’s side instead of a student’s,” said Boyle, who recalled memories from his own high school days during the early 1960s.

The Garden Grove resident said he did not know what to expect from high school students, even though one of his two children in the fall will be entering Pacifica High School--which, like Los Amigos High, is in the Garden Grove Unified School District.

But he said he was “fascinated with how excited teachers and students are about what they do here. It’s all really wonderful. The difference between dealing with a company and dealing with students is I’m dealing with people who have gotten their life going, but seeing these kids reaching out to their goals is neat.”

As he visited classes, students showed off projects and assignments. Kaisara Esera, 18, was among the drafting class students who received helpful critiquing and advice from Boyle, who showed special interest in the subject, which is related to his own line of work.

Esera said bringing in business professionals “is definitely a good idea” because they offer a different point of view. “I liked explaining my work to him, and he had interesting comments that are really great because he’s an engineer,” he said.

Boyle, who is also president of the county chapter of Engineers for Education, said that was part of the reason he decided to participate in the program. “There’s no question that business can’t survive if we don’t start working with schools,” he said. “In engineering for instance, we need to get more students involved in math and science, or the industry will suffer.”

By midday, the honorary principal became a familiar face around campus, getting hellos, handshakes and pats on the back from students.

But would students trade their own principal?

Willson “does a lot for the school and has a lot of new ideas,” junior Thai Vang said. “He’s very outgoing, and I like that.”

Boyle had nothing but praise for Willson.

“George is terrific,” he said. “He interacts so well with the kids. I’m amazed how he remembers their names. He really listens and cares.”