February 2020: School Administrator

Staff

• Jay P. Goldman

  Editor

  jgoldman@aasa.org

  703-875-0745

• Liz Griffin

  Managing Editor

  lgriffin@aasa.org

  703-875-0753

• Juli Valentine

Courage on a Path of Recovery

I first met superintendent Lori Mueller last summer when she addressed a room full of school public relations professionals about her harrowing journey that she details in an article this month.

Mueller’s narrative is titled “Waking From a Nightmare in Baraboo,” and it describes her efforts as a school system leader to stabilize her school community in the immediate aftermath of a thoughtless decision by 50-plus high school seniors to pose with a Nazi salute on the town’s courthouse steps while in their prom-day attire. The photo, captured by a student’s father, was discovered on a shared photo site about six months later and promptly was sent spiraling through the web of worldwide social media.

Nothing in Mueller’s past necessarily prepared her for dealing with the anguish within her school community and the outrage expressed by the outside world. Yet her leadership, in combination with good-spirited others, have set Baraboo, Wis., on a forward-looking path of healing and recovery. Now 15 months into that journey, Mueller would no doubt agree her school system is the stronger for enduring this test of character.

I hope our readers might share their comments with Mueller and with us.

Jay P. Goldman
Editor, School Administrator
 703-875-0745
 jgoldman@aasa.org
 @JPGoldman