Principal and Bureaucracy
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When I applied for a summer teaching assignment, Gradillas, the principal at Garfield High School, called to ask if I would accept an assignment teaching geometry at Garfield. As a longtime Westside teacher and resident, I asked, “Where is Garfield High?” and “How do I get there?”
That summer of 1985 was one of my most memorable assignments in a 30-year teaching career in Los Angeles. I had never been around so many motivated, college prep students. The motivator appeared to be the principal who not only gave a school-wide motivational assembly but also came to my class to do the same. When Mr. Gradillas believed in the potential of his students, they believed in their own potential and achieved.
While Los Angeles appears to have lost an outstanding principal, I am thankful that he is still in the field of education and working on the state level.
ANNETTE L. HERBST
North Hollywood
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