She’s Age 10, and You Can Call Her ‘Principal’

Before making any rulings about how the school was going to be run now that she was in charge, 10-year-old Linh Tran first took a few minutes to rearrange the pens and paper on the principal’s desk to suit her.

As it turned out, that was just about the highlight of her daylong tenure as head of St. Elisabeth Catholic School, where on Wednesday she got to be principal for the day.

“My friends are more excited about this than I am,” Linh said that morning. “It’s kinda weird.”

Linh won the honor by being one of 14 students to sell at least $180 worth of magazines and gifts during the Van Nuys school’s annual magazine drive.

Her name was pulled from a hat and she got the opportunity to make new rules for the day. She declared Wednesday a free-dress day, meaning that students did not have to wear uniforms. Linh also decreed extended recess and lunch times, and made sure there were videos and ice cream in each class.

Last but not least, she decreed that there would be no homework assigned for Wednesday night.

While Linh took over the principal’s office, Sister Barbara Schamber, the school’s real principal, spent the day as a fifth-grader in Linh’s classroom. She had to do whatever the other students did in teacher Jene Wright’s class.

Linh was the school’s third and youngest student principal since the contest started three years ago.