Gerrie Spellmann: The power of teamwork in building a school's culture of character

On this episode, you’ll get to hear from Gerrie Spellmann, the principal at Woodridge Elementary in San Antonio, Texas. She’s currently in her 29th year in public education, and in the episode you’ll hear her often say that leaders cannot do it alone. Gerrie actively networks with other principals across her state through the Texas Elementary and Principal Association (TEPSA), where she’s served in numerous regional and state level committees and currently serves on the TEPSA Executive Committee as Member at Large. TEPSA Collaboration led her to co-author a published book called The T-TESS Blackbook: The Go-To Guide for Administrators. Her school has been recognized as a national school of character, and in this interview she shares many examples of how character is infused in everything they do at Woodridge Elementary.








In this episode, you'll learn:



-How Gerrie got involved in character education



-The core values & creed for Woodridge Elementary, "Be the WE"



-The bold mission statement for Gerrie's district and what that means for her, the staff, and students



-The school's service project that Gerrie is most proud of



-How the students made a shift from community service to seeing a need in their community and taking action through service learning



-How a project promoting tolerance has led to state changes in Holocaust education



-The Principal's Advisory Crew: what it does, how it was selected, and how it has impacted Gerrie as a principal



-What Gerrie believes are the keys to building a positive, healthy adult culture



-Examples of intentional culture building with the adults in her school



-The advice Gerrie would give to someone starting out and trying to build a culture of character in their school



-Challenges Gerrie faced while building a culture of character








Resources from the episode:



Woodridge Elementary Website: https://woodridge.ahisd.net/



Character.org - https://character.org/



CharacterStrong - https://characterstrong.com/



Schlechty Center - https://www.schlechtycenter.org/



11 Principles (from Character.org) - https://character.org/11-principles-i...



The T-TESS Blackbook: The Go-To Guide for Administrators








Connect with us!



     ~~On Twitter:



Jennifer Hogan - @jennifer_hogan



Communities of Character - @Samford_CCC



Gerrie Spellmann - @GerrieGerri



Woodridge Counselors - @WEcounselors



     ~~On Instagram:



Communities of Character - @Samford_CCC