| day of classes. "I say 'Good Morning' to the kids and say 'Hi handsome' or 'Hi beautiful,'" Hodge said during an interview with The Capital City Hues. "And they go ';She called me beautiful.' Sometimes if they are injured and you can just be there for them, they just really want to know that you care about them. When kids come in, they have stories to tell if it's nothing but 'I lost a tooth.' Or 'My mom had a baby.' You have to be out there for the children." As a principal, Hodge firmly believes that it is important for her to be visible in the school, for the staff and students to be so used to her presence that they think nothing of it if she enters a classroom or walks the hallways. To Hodge, a principal who sits behind his or her desk all the time is a manager -- not a principal. There's a lot of love at "Allis Palace," which Hodge affectionately calls Frank Allis School, because Hodge is out front setting an example for the staff and students. Setting an example is something Hodge has been doing her entire life. Hodge hails from a rural Arkansas town. Both of her parents were farmers who spent long hours in the hot Arkansas sun before the age of mechanization revolutionized Southern agriculture. Hodge was the second oldest of 10 children and so a lot of responsibility fell on her shoulders to help raise her younger siblings. "I always wanted to be a beautician," Hodge said about her youthful ambitions. "My mom always had me up getting the kids' hair ready for school. There was a lot of responsibility and a lot of nurturing that I had to give out because my mom and dad were both farmers. I had to assume the role of big sister and, in some instances, parent and teacher teaching my siblings a lot of things." While neither of Hodge's parents went to high school, they both believed in education, reflected in the fact that all of Hodge's siblings graduated from college. "They had some really, really strong values that they instilled in us," Hodge recalled. "They told us "You don't want to work on a farm." They instilled in us that anything you put your mind to, if you really work enough, you can do it. Dad always told us that the only thing we wanted people to give us is an opportunity to explore whatever you want to do. I feel all kids have potential given the opportunity to stretch. That's what we were given; even in the South we were given that opportunity through our parents." They also instilled those values through example. Hodge recalled her parents always opening up their doors to relatives and others who needed a roof over their heads or something to eat. Hodge graduated from high school when she was 16 years old and entered Arkansas A&M at Pine Bluff. She worked at a type of preparatory school and had a real good feel for the kids due to her role in her family. When a friend of hers declared an elementary education major, Hodge knew that was the major for her. Hodge graduated from college when she was 20 years old and first taught in a small town. People's attitudes toward teachers were very different back then. "When people met the teacher in a restaurant or at church, there was a lot of honor there," Hodge said. "For some reason, that piece has been lost. I don't know if it has been lost because we as educators don't really brag about who we are and what we do. I wouldn't say people don't appreciate teachers. I think there is a little fear of teachers wanting to push kids because kids have the freedom to say things that kids normally wouldn't say to teachers when I first started teaching." While some of the dynamics have changed, with some parents not automatically giving teachers that show of respect and some students not afraid to talk back to the teacher, Hodge feels teachers need to be firm and in charge. "I've always felt that a scared teacher can't teach," Hodge emphasized. "I've never, even to this day, been afraid to challenge my kids to do their best and challenge them that if they think something is wrong, they need to go home and talk to their parents about what happened at school. And then the parents need to take the responsibility of coming to school and checking it out. That's the way I did my kids. If they came home and told me something went wrong at school, I told them that was their side of the story and I needed to hear the teacher's side of the story and then from there I would decide which side I believed. I think we have support from parents, but not the way it was when I first started teaching." The fundamental value that drives Hodge and that has kept her in the profession for 45 years is her love for the children and it is a fundamental value that she believes every teacher must have in order to be an effective teacher. "The kids come to school," Hodge stated. "And because they come to school, that's a signal to me that they want to learn. There are a lot of teachers in the field because they want to be here. I think that's true with any profession. But I think the majority of people who are teachers really care about kids. And in this profession, if you don't like kids, this is not the field you should be in because every day brings a new challenge." Next issue: Reflections on changes in the teaching profession |
| An interview with Frank Allis Principal Chris Hodge It's all about the children By Jonathan Gramling Part 1 of 2 |
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| There's no mistaking Chris Hodge, retiring principal of Frank Allis Elementary School, as she greets the children coming to school on a fine spring day. She has donned her orange safety vest and is constantly being hugged or greeted by the children. Some students give a fleeting "Hi" as they swiftly pass by. Others linger to tell Hodge something or to get that last bit of reassurance before they hit another |
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