Chanel Rutty

I would attribute my success to my mom. She played a major role in ensuring that I am successful in life, and that I had the same opportunities that everyone else has for quality education. I think with me, my give back and my purpose is to ensure that students have the same success, and students have the same exposure to a quality education, starting at an early age. My mom was a retired high school math teacher, and being raised in a family of educators - my brother is a vice principal and my sister-in-law is a vice principal - it's just instilled in you.

The best career advice that I've ever received in the education field is you have to literally pick and choose your battles, because not everything is going to be worth your energy, not everything is going to be worth your time, and you could just never take things personal. You should always be logical and a sound decision maker. Being ethical, too - be ethical. That's something really deep as well.

I would say never give up and keep going, because I've worked in different school settings where it is a male-dominating presence. This is actually my first year where the whole leadership team is actually females, and I think with the whole leadership team being female, it just really shows how strong women really are, and it really shows that women can really do this work and change the world. I think it's important to empower other women to believe in themselves and remain focused on what the goal is, and the goal is to close achievement gaps so all children can have access to a quality education. At the school I'm currently at, I've learned that the past couple of years our school was at the bottom and wasn't a growing school where kids were scoring high and going to great schools. But after this principal that I work with now came, she actually turned the school around, and now we do have kids that are going to great high schools and getting into great programs and being able to go to Yale for the summer.

I think the biggest challenge is that no challenge is ever too big or too small. I think on a day-to-day, I'm dealing with challenges, whether it's with students, whether it's with teachers, whether it's figuring something going wrong in a building. When you think about challenges, I think it can be a challenge every day, you just gotta learn how to be flexible, how to adapt, and how to just get through it. Being in an urban community and life in general, every day it could be a challenge, and I think it's just how you adapt to the change and how you push through.

For work, I would say just being logical, being fair, being a team player, and most importantly, being a listener. Because a lot of times, when you're a leader, you can't lead if you don't listen. You have to hear what your staff and your school community - what are their needs, what are their wants? How can I attribute to a successful and positive culture community at a school? I think the biggest thing would be being a listener to see how can you help the improvement of your school. For my personal life, I value respect, and I value honesty, and I think when you value things like that, you go a long way.