Faculty Focus is a student life series featuring a faculty member at Coppell High School, rotating by department each week.
Coppell High School assistant principal Anna Wanderski does not only manage students but strives to create a connection with them. Wanderski takes advantage of her position to give back to the community through improving school data as well.
What inspired you to become an educator?
I did not have a great childhood. We were pretty poor growing up in Las Cruces, N.M., but I did not know that. I originally got into this to go into the school system and help kids like me, those who may need extra help with tutoring or finding food. I spent a lot of my career working for Title I schools, where kids with those issues happen to be prevalent. I spent a lot of my time pouring into those specific needs. Part of the reason I wanted to be an assistant principal was the fact that I really enjoy data, which sounds nerdy. Anything can become data, and I like figuring out how to improve or increase that data from a higher level. Rather than being a teacher, I get to be in charge of systems and data, changing or pushing things in a different way in the background to help the entire school.
How would you describe your approach to working with students?
I am pretty laid back. I give a lot of the benefit of the doubt to kids, especially when it comes to behavior. Especially at the beginning of the school year, I do not know them – they do not know me, and this is their first time here. So, let’s talk about how we do things at Coppell High School. Let’s talk about the culture here and some of these rules or policies that they were not aware of coming from CHS9. I like to build a relationship with kids, to begin with, so that it is just not me being an assistant principal sitting here and handing out suspensions and detentions. I try to respect everybody and get to know kids really well first because there is always a reason behind their actions.
What is a memorable moment from your time at CHS?
The most memorable was graduation last year because there was a huge crowd of thousands of people and over 1,000 kids graduating. Seeing kids cross the stage who you knew struggled to get there is one of the coolest moments.
What do you love most about working at CHS?
I love the culture and the family environment we have here as a staff. I also love the culture with the kids because everybody is loving and nice, minding their business. We are all accepting of each other for the most part. It is a great place to work because the kids are great, the families are great and the camaraderie that we have with each other, as a staff, is really fun, too.
What are your goals for this school year?
The data the school reports to the state can always be improved, so working on some systems to increase the amount and quality of data is a goal and very nerdy of me. Lots of data, including absences, test scores and kids who have gotten in trouble, gets reported to the state, which eventually goes through calculations that give us a state score as a school and as an independent school district. As a campus, we are doing our best, but we have to keep up the “A” status. The wider goal here is to get to know more kids and staff members and continue creating a really positive environment with that feeling of love in the hallways.
What advice would you give to new staff members at CHS?
Just enjoy it. I know there is a lot of stress with teaching, and even though we have such high-achieving kids who tend to get very stressed about grades, it really is a journey. Coppell High School is a special place, so just slow down and enjoy it. It will be OK.
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