Business, Civic Leaders Shadow Educators in Annual Networking Program

Lawyers, business executives, politicians and architects stepped out of their offices Tuesday to become temporary Ventura County principals, touring campuses and coming up with ideas to help schools.

After witnessing the teachers’ hard work and the students’ progress, many offered support:

* A retired Southern California Edison employee promised that he would look for opportunities to get the company to use students as computer volunteers.

* The vice president of the Pacific Suns minor league team said he would try to help school groups get free tickets to baseball games.

* A retired Navy civil servant said he wants to see more mentors on campus.

“We kind of hook ‘em on the work we do,” said Charles Weis, Ventura County superintendent of schools, who let Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin McGee shadow him for a day in the annual ritual. “We often form business relationships that continue for a lifetime.”

Networking is one of the main purposes of the 3-year-old Ventura County “Principal for a Day” program, implemented by the state Department of Education nearly a decade ago. Generally, the venture is a combined effort of school districts and local chambers of commerce.

Along with the county schools office, the Ventura Unified School District participated in the program Tuesday, with Mayor Jim Friedman and two dozen community leaders taking a look at the district’s schools.

Oxnard Union High School District participated last week, Simi Valley Unified School District will conduct its day of visits today and Conejo Valley Unified School District is scheduled to participate April 1.

Principals say they enjoy opening up their campuses to the private sector--and enjoy the benefits that occasionally follow.

One year, for example, a county special education program received medical brochures in Spanish after an Amgen employee shadowed Janet Ellis, principal of the county’s Conejo-Triggs Educational Center, she said.

The visitors get something out of the experience as well.

Newbury Park architect Ralph Arnold, for example, got a lesson in how important it is to construct buildings for people with physical handicaps. Arnold was this year’s stand-in for Ellis at her school, which serves special education students.

On a more personal level, the experience gave visitors a chance to remember their childhoods.

“I used to love recess,” Arnold said. “I forgot about hitting the ball against a wall. . . . This brings back memories. We were all kids once.”

At a debriefing session following the campus tours, the shadowers got a chance to tell the principals what they thought.

Lack of money was the biggest challenge that school administrators face, community leaders said.

“It would be great if you could continue doing all these great things you’re doing, if only you had more resources,” said Paul Regina, vice president of the Pacific Suns.

Other frustrations of being a principal, as the community leaders saw it, included managing their time and balancing the need to discipline children with a friendly manner.

But for the most part, their comments were glowing. The teachers are professional, the schools are clean and the course offerings are varied, the community leaders said.

“These comments are really good for morale,” said Peggy Velarde, principal of the county’s Regional Occupational Program, which offers more than two dozen vocational classes. “Teachers need to hear what they are doing is respected.”