The following is an excerpt from “PAST & PRESENT,” written by Matthew Christenson and published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals in honor of its 100th anniversary.

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PREFACE

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) has been helping write the story of American education for 100 years. In chatting with a couple of NASSP members – one a longtime member, the other with fewer years on the roster – we learn how the organization has supported a lifetime of success, and how it will bring the next generation of administrators, educators, and students into the future.

THE PRO

A few years back, principal Don Gates received an alarming phone call. The irate father of a suspended student called Don to say he was coming to see him and to harm him.

That parent was a man of his word.

When the father showed up, Don walked toward him, looked him in the eye, and waited a beat before asking how he could help him. His careful combination of care and confidence cooled the tense scene. After Don had dismantled the potentially explosive confrontation, the two men were able to speak rationally and focus on the real issue at hand – the student’s needs.

The father didn’t realize he was dealing with a principal, a pro, an expert who used a cool demeanor to defuse tense situations and solve diverse challenges every day.

“Of course,” laughs Don, NASSP member since 1977, as he looks back, “I don’t know if I’d do that today.”

THE HEIR

Not far from Don’s home in Connecticut, assistant principal Jared Wastler is in Maryland having a different kind of day.

Today, he’s trying to find a football field.

It’s not that he doesn’t know where the field is. In fact, part of his job – one of many not listed in his actual job description – is to know the location of every football field in his area. But today, Jared is on a special mission. He needs to find the one football field that least resembles split pea soup.

Jared explains, “We’ve had so much rain that we’ve already moved the game seven times in the last 24 hours. I’m just trying to find a field that’s dry enough to play on. Ultimately, we’re negotiating whose field we’ll destroy. But we need to play this game to ensure our kids have a chance to go to the playoffs.”

When asked which high school his students were playing, Jared laughed. “Oh, it’s my old high school, the high school where I graduated.”

This is particularly relevant because Jared graduated high school more recently than Don … much more recently. In fact, Don has been part of NASSP since before Jared was born. So, it’s likely that Jared, one of NASSP’s youngest members, will run into some of his former teachers when his new school meets his alma mater on the gridiron.

THE CHANGE AGENT

Though Don graduated from high school in the 1950’s and Jared graduated in the 1990’s, but men sound very similar when they speak to the evergreen values of education.

Both will quickly tell you that a principal must build inroads of communication to connect with their staff and students. They will explain that, at the core, kids still need a solid education with a curriculum of classic subjects.

But both principals iterate that there are differences today when it comes to the high school experience. And many of these differences have to do more with how we communicate and share information rather than the information itself.

“The people haven’t really changed,” says Jared. “The environment has. Now, when something happens at school, the kids immediately share their entire side of the story with a text or on Facebook. We don’t operate day-to-day. We operate second-to-second.” So you might say the principles are the same. It’s the principals who have had to change.

THE COACH

Fortunately, there’s a group that’s been helping principals address their changing environment in near real time. With over 50 years of collective experience, both Don and Jared credit a large part of their continued success over the years to excellent coaching by NASSP and its efforts to provide the tools and support that help principals successfully navigate change.

“Having an organization that cares about me is critical,” says Jared. “If I have an issue or a communications crisis, I call them directly to get immediate help. The resources that NASSP provides are from people who have firsthand experience. These aren’t consultants or college professors talking about theory. I get help from people who are doing it right now.”

And it’s not just the principal who benefits from NASSP.

Don adds, “NASSP is known for supporting a number of scholarship programs that help kids pay for college. And it helps by working directly with the legislators to fund important educational programs. As a principal, we don’t always know what’s going on in Washington, D.C., so we have NASSP watchdogging legislation and taking positions on what’s best for kids.”

THE FORTUNE TELLER

NASSP isn’t only serving as bedrock for today’s students or luminaries like Don or emerging leaders like Jared. NASSP is continually looking forward to the future.

“NASSP isn’t afraid to think differently,” says Jared. “I learn new techniques constantly. Life moves fast, so now we need to work faster.” And with its history of helping principals like these two to such prominence, NASSP is poised to guide future generations of educators and administrators to ever-higher accomplishments.

Still, NASSP has much to look back on in its first 100 years. In Don’s case, his legacy has been assured as a Connecticut Principal of the Year and a recent inductee into the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) Hall of Honor for his “tremendous dedication” to CAS. Also, the high school where he served as principal for 31 years – Portland High School, Portland, Connecticut – named the school auditorium after him.

Jared, on the other hand, has a number of years ahead of him. But with his enthusiasm and acumen, he is certainly on a path to his own legacy. Having a friend in NASSP can only help. And with NASSP beside him, perhaps someday Jared will have a school auditorium names after him.

Or better yet, a football field.