Her Story
About Carnella
I've been in education for 23 years, driven by a passion to give back to my community the way educators supported me growing up in East St. Louis, Illinois. I started teaching elementary education in St. Louis City in my early 20s, and was quickly placed in leadership positions. My colleagues persuaded me to pursue administration, telling me I was a natural leader, even though I had originally wanted to be that teacher who stayed at the same school for generations. I went back in my late 20s to get my master's in administration, and later earned my education specialist degree. I became an administrator in 2016, starting as assistant principal, and have been a head principal for 5 years. I've been with Ferguson-Florissant School District since 2008, transitioning from St. Louis City to St. Louis County. My main areas of expertise are identifying strong instruction and giving precise feedback to grow teachers so they can impact change. I'm also strong with systems - I've presented at national PBIS conferences, supporting students with behavior strategies and helping buildings implement behavior systems, procedures, and protocols. Last year, I stepped down to be an instructional coach while fighting breast cancer, working all through 6 months of chemo and surgeries, but recognizing I needed to get myself fully back together to pour into my community, staff, and students the way I have been. This year, I returned to a new, larger building in my district with more challenging issues, ready to do turnaround work. More than half my building are new teachers, so I'm coaching them up in practices and strategies while many are still working on their certification. What I'm most proud of are the relationships I've built over the years - I still have long-standing relationships with teachers I've worked with and students I've taught, and I'm still invited to their life events.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Carnella
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've always been able to do what I put my mind to. Even as a young girl, if I set my mind to it, I'm doing it. Along my education journey, I would tell myself, by a certain age I'm going to be a team leader, by another age I'm going to have my master's or be an assistant principal. I set those marks, those goals, and just go forward and achieve it. That motivation probably came from my mother - just seeing her work hard as a single mom and pour into us, and let us know that we're able to achieve whatever we set our mind to. That's always been in me. I also have a great support system of family and friends, and because they are go-getters, being surrounded by leaders and people that want more and want to grow has also attributed to my success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell her to make the plan, be reflective, stay reflective. And it's okay to change your plan. Just as you are creating the first plan, think about Plan B and C, if A does not work. I would tell her it is okay to make mistakes, and it is okay to feel all the feelings that you feel along the way. But never stop, and it is never too late to reach a goal or make a new dream.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge would be not having enough resources to support the needs of today's students. I will speak about mental health being the first area of concern - not having enough support personnel, whether it's counselors, therapists, or social workers in the buildings to be able to connect with our students and families in the moments when they need them. That would be definitely an area of improvement that our officials can support with. Being able to get our students early with the mental support that they need, so they are not making those poor choices, or they are understanding their trauma and how it is impacting them. So that would be the biggest challenge - the personnel resources.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Strong relationships are definitely important to me, in work and personal. Compassion, consistency, loyalty, and being there for the children. Especially in education, because there are so many things that can cloud what we do in the school system, and we have to remember it is not about us. It's not about our wants and needs, it is about how this will impact our students. I recognize, even when I stepped away to be an instructional coach last year, I sometimes found myself putting my job, my career, before my own family. It was a double-edged sword, because while I was giving one group my all, I was taken away from home. But I was also blessed to know that my family understood my passion and deep care for the work that I do.
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