Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
At 10, he's probably the youngest principal to walk the halls at his elementary school. He won the job on his fundraising efforts.
By LORRI HELFAND
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 19, 2001
SEMINOLE -- What's the neatest thing about being principal?
"I've always wanted to have a walkie-talkie like this," said Bauder Elementary School fifth-grader Dustin Bowersett, clutching a hand-held radio.
Dustin, 10, got his chance to sample life as principal on Friday when he took the helm of Bauder. He earned the honor of being principal for a day by raising the most money at school during a science lab fundraiser held in February.
Principal Jan Johnston wanted to reward the grade that raised the most funds with a skating party, but before the walk-a-thon, Dustin came to her with a suggestion. Why not reward the top fundraiser as well?
Johnston thought it was a great idea. She decided to let the top four students be principal, assistant principal or science lab instructors for the day.
Dustin collected $263 and decided to be top dog. Next in line were Amy DeLorenzo, 8, Eric Minnix, 10, and Julie Lucas, 9, collecting a total of $600. All together, the school raised $14,202. The funds will help keep a new science lab program afloat.
Amy and Julie decided to be science teachers and Eric became assistant principal for the day.
Decked out in a white polo, black pleated dress pants and matching leather wing-tip shoes, Dustin hit the halls. He checked on classrooms, made sure his classmates were behaving appropriately in the cafeteria and got a briefing on Bauder's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results from the school's achievement specialist.
In between his rounds, Dustin made time for a couple of principal perks. He taste-tested a cookie while chatting with cafeteria staff and munched on a Joto's cheese pizza for lunch rather than cafeteria fare.
The science lab that benefited from Dustin's fundraising is new this year. Dale Jenrette, whom pupils affectionately call Dr. J, teaches in the lab. Johnston said the lab was created to boost her students' science skills, with the FCAT in mind.
That's because next year science will be added to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test, and in 2004, it will count toward public school accountability ratings.
In science lab, students learned about kinetic and potential energy by building a roller-coaster out of pipe insulation, masking tape, cardboard tubes and whatever else they could find around the classroom.
It's one of several creative experiments that Jenrette has assigned this year. Dustin said his favorite was mixing baking soda and vinegar "because it has cool reactions."
Jenrette, who has been teaching at Bauder for 22 years, said he thinks the labs are an important supplement to the traditional classroom learning.
"It just brings the lesson together. You can read about something all day, but when they see it applied to a real life object it makes so much more sense to them," he said.
While Dustin visited Lisa Namey's fifth-grade class, his friend Thomas Bortnyk, 11, razzed him.
"Putting Dustin as principal is like America putting George Bush as president," he said.
"I think he wanted Al Gore," Dustin said, smiling.
J.D. Call, 11, gave Dustin some slack and said that he would make a good principal.
"He's always been honest and respectful," he said.
What would Dustin do if he was principal all year?
"I'd have a pizza party every day, and some days I'd have no school," he said.
Other classmates encouraged him to call school off, but Dustin thought better of it.
"They're telling me to cancel school for the day, but I said no," he said. "Then, I wouldn't get to be principal."