Photograph by George Sakkestad
Dillan Pak prepares to make the morning announcements in his role as 'Principal for a Day' at Saratoga Elementary School. Principal Marybarbara Zorio offers her advice.
Pak is only 9, but he's the principal
Third grader takes over as 'Principal for a Day' at Saratoga Elementary
By Rebecca Ray
Saratoga Elementary School made history on April 23 when it was run by its youngest principal ever ... 9-year-old Dillan Pak.
Pak earned the right to be "principal for a day" when Marybarbara Zorio, the real principal, closed her eyes and drew his name out of a box at a PTA auction. The box contained the names of all the children in the school.
As principal, Pak, a third-grader, got to spend the day with Zorio and do several of the tasks that she does each day-greet families when they drop off their children at school, make the morning announcements, visit classrooms and attend meetings.
Pak even met with Mary Gardner, superintendent of the Saratoga Union School District, and told her what he liked and what could be improved about the school. He said he liked his teachers, that he felt safe at the school, that he made friends there easily, and that he liked how children with special needs could attend the school. He said that Zorio "rocked!"
However, he said that students should do a better job cleaning up after themselves and that the school should stay small, because the playground is becoming too crowded.
He said the school should have organized games during lunch recess, because some children have nothing to do, and that recess should be longer.
His last suggestion is one that many teachers would probably appreciate--that teachers should have helpers to photocopy and correct their papers.
Pak said that being principal was fun, although announcing messages over the public address system made him a little nervous at first. But, he added, once he visited classrooms and repeated the announcements, reciting them became easier.
Pak said that touring classrooms was his favorite part. He especially liked it when he visited his classroom, where the other students clapped, cheered, bowed and said, "All hail Mr. Pak!"
"No one ever does that when I come in," Zorio said jokingly.
Pak made an impression on others as well. That morning, he brought pastries into the office, saying, "Good morning. This is for my employees."
Zorio also set up a meeting with a few fourth-grade boys who'd come to Zorio's office a few days earlier saying there wasn't enough sports equipment during recess. Zorio told the boys she'd allocate $300 in the school budget for equipment and that they could decide how to spend the money. When they met with Pak, they wrote a list that included checkers and chess sets, jump-ropes, balls, a soccer goal and a ball rack, and they wrote down how much the items would cost. Pak presented a report on the meeting at a school-wide assembly the next day.
Pak said that coming up with the list was "kind of fun," even though the other boys were older, which was slightly intimidating.
Zorio said that Pak "had a smile for all the kids" and was respectful of them.
Pak even looked like a principal. His mother decided that he should dress up, so he wore a white button-down shirt, a tie and ironed, creased slacks.
Pak enjoyed privileges that even Zorio rarely experiences. Zorio, who usually eats in the school cafeteria, took him to Johnny Rockets, where he ate a cheeseburger and fries and drank a Coke and milkshake. He said it was better than the Lunchables he usually brings to school.
Pat Obermeier's third-grade class even invited the two principals to a "famous person's party," where the students dressed up as famous people such as Abraham Lincoln.
Zorio started "Principal for a Day" when she was principal at McAuliffe Elementary School four years ago. She got the idea from a children's magazine in which she read a piece by a girl who'd been principal for a day at her school.
Pak said he never knew that Zorio toured every class every day and that she went to so many meetings.
He said he might like to be a principal when he grows up. However, when Zorio mentioned that he should become a teacher first, he sighed.
But after she explained that principals can understand teachers better if they've been teachers, he said that being a teacher would be cool. He said he'd like to teach kindergarten, because it would be "fun and easy."
"I like when kids call me Mr. P.," he said.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
