December 5, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Dr. Adam Clark, Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District in California. He was named as a 2022 Superintendent to Watch by the National School Public Relations Association. Previously, Dr. Clark served as Superintendent for Vallejo City Unified School District and Associate Superintendent at Antioch Unified School District. He has also been a principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Some Questions We Ask:
- Tell us about your career in education and your current role at Mount Diablo. (01:30)
- What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? (02:27)
- How are you able to deal with stress? (04:45)
- How do you think the scrutiny of the superintendency has changed over the years? (07:12)
- How do you bring different communities together to see your vision? (11:05)
- To what extent do you believe your experiences are typical of superintendents in your state or nationally? (13:56)
- What advice can you give to other superintendents who are struggling to cultivate engagement within their communities? (17:53)
- What causes people to overlook the fact that superintendents are actual individuals, and how can we show that you are real people tackling difficult problems to enable K-12 kids to receive the best education possible? (20:38)
- What can you suggest to advocates, community members, and parents for supporting district leaders? (24:31)
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- All about Dr. Adam Clark’s career (01:38)
- Rewarding aspect of his work in education (02:40)
- Strategies for coping and dealing with stress (04:52)
- Changes in scrutiny of the superintendency (07:21)
- Unifying communities around a vision (11:24)
- His personal experiences vs. other superintendents’ experiences (14:13)
- Dr. Clark’s advice to other superintendents (18:06)
- Seeing superintendents as individuals (20:54)
- Suggestions for advocates in the community (25:07)
Quotes:
“I remember how it was to be a young parent, and how maybe I didn't have all the information, and I just reacted to certain things. I also remember being a student myself—and that's one thing I try to remind people, to remember when you were a student, remember how your mind worked and the things that were important to you.”
“I want to show my true self and who I am. Yes, I do have to, at times, speak properly and correctly and use the right terminology and things like that. But at other times, I’ve got to show myself. I have to show excitement. I have to show disappointment. I have to talk about things that we won't stand for, we won't tolerate, and I need to be forceful when I say those things. But then I need to show true excitement and exuberance when good things are happening.”
Stay in touch with Dr. Adam Clark:
LinkedIn
Mount Diablo Unified School District
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah Williamson (00:05):
Hello and welcome to Build Momentum for
Education, a Podcast where weexplore thought leadership in
education. I'm Sarah Williamson,the founder of SWPR Group, an
agency that supports publicrelations, communication
strategies and thoughtleadership, support for school
districts, education companiesand nonprofit organizations.
Chad Bolser (00:23):
And I'm Chad Bolser, Chancellor at Ivy Tech
Community College in Indiana.
This season, we explore aparticularly unique perspective
in K 12 thought leadership,humanizing the role of the
superintendent.
Sarah Williamson (00:36):
Throughout the many conversations we continue
to have with superintendents, aclear theme has emerged about
the need to bring more humanityinto the role of the
superintendency. In this specialseries, we interview current and
former superintendents andresearchers to pursue the core
question, how can we better seesuperintendents as real people
navigating complex challenges toprovide the best possible
(00:56):
education for K 12 students?
Chad Bolser (00:58):
We dig deeper into how this important work can help
build community, invitecollaboration and increase
widespread engagement.
Sarah Williamson (01:08):
We can't wait to get started, so let's dive
in. We are so fortunate today tohave Dr. Adam Clark with us from
Mount Diablo, Unified SchoolDistrict. Welcome Adam. Thanks
for joining us.
Adam Clark (01:21):
Thank you so much.
I'm extremely excited to be hereand to talk to you all about
leaving school districts and howentertaining and fun that is.
Sarah Williamson (01:30):
So fun. Yeah, that's actually what we want to
get into how much fun it istoday. So tell us about your
career in education and yourcurrent role at Mount Diablo.
Adam Clark (01:38):
So I started off as an elementary school teacher, I
wanted to teach young people toread by third grade, that was my
plan. And so I taught the secondgrade and also taught the fifth
grade. And then I moved intoadministration. I was a middle
school vice principal,elementary principal, middle
school principal, high schoolprincipal, and then I
(01:59):
transitioned into the districtoffice, where I was assistant
superintendent of studentservices, and then I was
Associate Superintendent of Edservices, and then I was named
superintendent of the VallejoCity Unified School District,
and I served there for threeyears, and currently for the
last four years, and going intomy fifth year, I'm Leading the
(02:20):
Mount Diablo Unified SchoolDistrict. We have 29,000
students and 55 schools, 3800employees.
Chad Bolser (02:27):
That's amazing, and lots of entertainment,
enjoyment, challenge, all thatgood stuff. So what have you
found to be the most rewardingaspect of serving as
superintendent, and what hasbrought you the most joy?
Adam Clark (02:40):
Yeah, well, in all of those, as I just ran through
kind of a very quick, justhistory of my career in
education, all of those jobsthat I served were all in very
unique and different places. Andwhether, you know, I was in
areas with high poverty orextreme wealth, or in very
diverse, or not diverse areas.
You know, I always found itchallenging to shape the young
(03:03):
students and someone ineducation, you always want to
embrace challenges. And what Imean by challenges is every
student's different, and sotrying to use a one size
approach to meet the needs ofstudents is extremely different.
Even when I was a classroomteacher and had 33 kids in my
class, it was extremelychallenging to meet every
student's need, and that waskind of what brought me joy and
(03:25):
excitement to this career. Sobeing superintendent, I have
29,000 students, and being ableto shape an organization where
we look at the individualstrengths and weaknesses of each
and every student, or each andevery school or things like
that, really create like thishuge puzzle, this huge system,
which is almost like a Rubik'sCube, right? Like you're making
(03:49):
progress on one side, but thenthe other side is all mixed up,
and so then you have to applysome attention over there. So I
just really enjoy positivelyimpacting students by creating
systems that support their eachand every need.
Sarah Williamson (04:04):
Yeah, that is no small feat, that's for sure.
Yeah, I have a son with specialneeds, and I mean the amount of
work that goes into just him, inaddition to the 32 other kids in
the class, I do not envy therole of a teacher, but it's
pretty amazing what you're ableto pull off, and how we can
actually get all these peoplereading and all the things. So
(04:25):
thank you for that. So I'mcurious, one of the reasons we
actually wanted to talk aboutthis specific topic is RAN did a
study in 2023 and we're talkingto every superintendent we
interview about this, but thatthey found that district leaders
have one of the most stressfuljobs in America, and politics is
one of the main reasons for thatstress. I'm curious how you feel
(04:46):
about that research and howyou've been able to deal with
the stress in the role of thesuperintendency.
Adam Clark (04:52):
Yeah, so it is definitely a high stress job.
I've had some ailments, somehealth challenges that I never
had before, and I don't know, Idon't know if I can. Equate that
to just getting older, or ifit's just raising my stress
level. So I really do look at mystress very close to that. I
take my blood pressure everysingle morning, I keep a running
chart. Tonight I have a boardmeeting, and so I always know
(05:13):
around board meetings that bloodpressure goes up a little bit,
and even if it's a noncontroversial board meeting, you
know, with nothing on the agendathat's going to really raise
eyebrows, I still get thoselevels of stress. And I think
one of the things that makesthis job stressful is that so
many different things, you know,end up in on my desk. And
(05:33):
whether it is student safety,whether it's employee
discipline, whether it's stuffthat's going on in the
communities in Mount Diablo, weserve seven different
communities, and they're allextremely different and diverse.
And so there are things that popup in the community, that play
themselves out in our schoolsand in our classrooms, and so
(05:54):
trying to get a handle on that,and just to be aware of
everything that's happening. Andthen, like I shared earlier,
like I embrace challenges and Irun towards challenges, but as
superintendent, sometimes Ican't be the one necessarily
that's touching every singlething out there. I have to
really rely and depend on myteam and to have faith in their
(06:17):
leadership and their ability tomake decisions. So whether it's
students or staff or my districtoffice team, or just the
community needs and things likethat, that's really what adds to
that stress level. When we talkabout politics, everything's
political in schools. It may notnecessarily be the stuff that's
on a national level, but clearlythe local politics, one
(06:40):
community may have crossingguards and another community may
not, because that particularcity went out for a grant to pay
for crossing guards. And so thenas superintendent, I have to be
able to manage the issues ofhaving crossing guards in one
city and not in another, butthey're all under the district's
umbrella. And so that constantpull, you know, all my time on
(07:01):
my heart strings, on our system,really caused those stress
levels to go up. And so it'sreal important that, you know,
we find ways to recognize thatstress and to address it.
Chad Bolser (07:12):
Well, I think this is a related question, which is,
how do you think the scrutiny ofthe superintendency has changed
over the past few years.
Adam Clark (07:21):
Yeah. So one thing that has really changed since
the pandemic is the televising,or the broadcasting of our
meetings. Oftentimes, we wouldrecord our meetings, maybe, you
know, on tape, if that seems asforeign as it can be. But then
just very few districts actuallylike live broadcast their
meetings. And then, since thepandemic, when we all had to go
(07:43):
on Zoom or Google meets, thenour board meetings became, you
know, just accessible toeveryone to sit in there, sit on
their couch and actually watch aboard meeting. And quite
honestly, with thesuperintendent, no matter how
large or small your district is,you know, you're that face on
the marquee. And so whether Ican make a decision, it's just a
(08:03):
common, you know, regulardecision, and half the people
are going to think, oh mygoodness, it's the best thing.
And, you know, the guy's agenius, and thank goodness for
him. And the other half issaying, oh my goodness, what are
they thinking about it? Theylost their mind. Who's actually
doing that? So that's just on abasic decision. And so then when
you really start getting intocontroversial decisions, maybe
(08:23):
like, not that I've had to dealwith this, but I've read about
it, maybe like you have toremove the local high school
football coach or something likethat, then that brings in those
politics, right? You haveinfluential people whose kids
play on the team or things likethat, and then your board starts
getting involved and things likethat. And, you know, speaking of
board, the only employee of agoverning board is
(08:46):
Superintendent, and they are allelected officials. So depending
on whether they're aspiring forhigher seats or whether, you
know, they have a particulararea of focus that they ran on,
or, you know, campaign on, thenthose things start to play into
the process of decision making.
And so I always have to be awareof the decisions that we make,
(09:07):
or the statements that we makeon how the other folks are going
to be impacted by thosedecisions. And I just try to do
what's best for students, andtry to do best what for our
parents, and then do what's bestfor our employees, you know? And
then those things just sort ofplay out, but it's all
political.
Sarah Williamson (09:25):
I mean, when you're talking about people's
kids, yep, and most the emotionscome out nothing scarier than an
angry mom, right?
Adam Clark (09:33):
Yes. And one thing, one reason you know that I think
I've been able to navigate, youknow, these waters is I have
three kids myself. I mean,they're well now, they've been
through a quick K 12 system.
They've been through higher ed,you know, they've all graduated
colleges with degrees and arenow working. So I've actually
been through the process. And soI do remember how it was to be a
young parent, and to rememberhow, you know, maybe I didn't
(09:55):
have all the information, and Ijust sort of React. It to
certain things. I also rememberbeing a student myself, and
that's one thing I try to remindpeople, is remember when you
were a student, remember howyour mind worked, or the things
that were important to you. Soit's no wonder that some of the
things that are very importantto us adults, like our kids,
really could, you know, don'treally have an interest in in
learning about those things ordoing those things, but when
(10:18):
you're working with people'smost prized possession, and
that's their kids. You have tounderstand that every parent
just wants what's best for theirkid, and sometimes they go about
advocating in different ways.
And it might be yelling in theoffice, it might be getting a
lawyer send you a letter, or itmight be to send emails, or it
might just be to show up, butwith the lens as they're just
(10:42):
trying to do what's best fortheir child, that helps take
out, you know, some of thatsting when sometimes, you know,
a mad parent might say somethings that aren't so nice, or,
you know, you have to kind ofnavigate some conflicts that
take place. But when you'reultimately trying to do what's
best for all kids, you know, youtend to fall on that right side
and be able to bring peoplearound to be able to see why
(11:04):
certain decisions were made.
Yeah, that's a really goodperspective to keep for sure.
I'm curious. You said you haveseven different communities
where all of your schools arebased. That's really complex.
How are you able to bring allthose different communities
together to see your vision forthe district and unify them in a
positive way. Is that possible?
(11:24):
Yeah, well, it's great because,you know, everyone's competing
for resources, right? So that'skind of what comes together. But
the way that I try to do that iswe have some very specific goals
as a district, and so I try tocommunicate those goals every
opportunity I get, so thateveryone, regardless of what
(11:46):
community you're in, you hearthose goals, and you can apply
those goals to your currentsituation. So whether you're an
elementary parent, and we'retalking about Chromebooks for
everybody, for all of ourstudents, then you're able to,
you know, understand how thatimpacts you. We have some
communities where they're reallyexcited to get a Chromebook. We
(12:07):
have some other communities thatthey're not that excited to get
a Chromebook because they have aMac already, or they have an
iPad or something that they useso but when our goal is that,
you know, all students will beexposed and have equal access to
technology, then you're able totemper those differences with
Well, what our goal is is tomake sure students have access
(12:28):
to technology, and we'reproviding this to actually
really put our resources behindwhat our goals are saying. But
the other thing that we do, kindof to bring everyone together,
is communication andtransparency. So our websites
are kind of that first thingthat people see, especially in
this day and time like everyonechecks a website. So at the
(12:49):
district level, we try to put asmuch information as possible on
our district website, and we tryto set the example for our 55
schools so that they keep theirwebsites open. Probably one of
the most successful things we dois every Friday, we published a
very comprehensive newsletterabout all the things that have
taken place in our district thatweek. And we don't just focus on
(13:12):
one community. We really try toI mean, if we have readers who
read every week, they will seetheir schools, they will see
their communities, maybe notevery week, but they will see
stories that highlight thesuccesses of their students, of
the commitments of the educatorsor the leaders within those
communities, and then that giveseveryone kind of that good
feeling about their localdistrict and what our district
(13:33):
is doing to support theirstudents and to support whatever
their goals and aspirations are.
Our goal is to prepare everystudent for college and career.
So we don't pigeonhole certainstudents towards college or
pigeonhole certain studentstowards career. We want to
prepare them for both and so bydoing that, we're able to unite
the community around thosecommon goals.
Chad Bolser (13:56):
Adam, how as individuals listen to this who
are district leaders orcommunity members. How
representative Do you think yourown experiences are compared to
other superintendents locally inyour state, even nationally?
What do you think about that?
Adam Clark (14:13):
Yeah, so I've had a very unique upbringing. I've had
a upbringing where I was exposedto many, many different people
from all sorts of backgrounds,and I'm one who, when I was
younger, I really wasn't thatengaged in school. And, you
know, maybe even, you know, Inever thought I would be in
education. And one of thereasons why I chose to go into
(14:35):
education in my early, early 20swas because, as I thought back
on my own experiences. I wasmotivated by all the adults that
I came in contact with, andreally wanted to very simple. I
wanted students. When I lookback on my schooling, even
though I wasn't all thatengaged, I still had extremely
(14:56):
positive experiences, and so Iwanted to make sure that
students had positiveexperiences under my care,
whether I was a teacher, whetherI was the vice principal,
Principal, Superintendent. So Ialways made it a point to use my
personality, to use myextensive, you know, social
(15:16):
skills, you know, and not beingintimidated by any groups of
people or not thinking I'mbetter or less than or anything,
but just being genuine withpeople. And I think by bringing
that to the superintendency,that's how I've been, you know,
successful in every place thatI've been. Every place that I've
been, they say the same thingabout me, Dr Clark, or Mr.
(15:36):
Clark, at the time, he caredabout kids. He went above and
beyond, like he always let usknow that we were important and
that he was working hard for ourbenefit and to increase our
excitement about learning andour success levels and things
like that. And then lastly is, Idon't judge, you know, I don't
have any preconceived notions ofwhat students certain students
(15:57):
should be doing or not doing, orif students make a mistake or
say the wrong thing, or maybefail a class or something. I
don't judge them. I just buildthem up and just, you know, let
them know that they're young andthings are going to happen. You
know, when I was a high schoolprincipal, students would get
so, so concerned about going tocollege, and this is on my list,
and this is my and I would justtell them, just, very calmly,
(16:20):
you're going to end up in theright place. It may be your
first choice. It may be, youknow, your eighth choice or
something, but you're going toend up in the right place. And
that's kind of what happened,you know, to me. I went to
college because it was just kindof like the thing to do, and
once I really engaged and gotserious about it, I had, I had a
great time. I was totally happywith where I ended up, but it
(16:40):
may not have been my firstchoice, or, you know, things
like that, but just having thatattitude, I think, is really
what contributes to my success.
Sarah Williamson (16:48):
Yeah, I definitely agree you are
engaging when I first met you.
You're definitely an engagingpersonality. And I'm sure your
students see that, and it's atestament when that's how they
describe you, as someone whocares about you. We've talked a
lot about that in PR and commsis, what would people describe
you? How would people describeyou? What do they say about you
and your job as asuperintendent? Because if they
don't have an answer, they'regoing to make something up, and
(17:08):
you don't want them to makesomething up, so it's good they
all have an answer.
Adam Clark (17:13):
Yeah. And you know, and I believe, in these times
where public education iscontinually being questioned or
sometimes under attack, I wantto tell our story, and so that's
why I'm so proud of our Fridaynewsletter that we publish every
single week. I'm telling thestory of our students and of our
staff and our communities. I'mnot letting rumors tell it, or
(17:34):
what people thought of ourschools 20 years ago or 10 years
ago, or what you know they readabout a school outside of the
state or something. If you wantto know what's going on in our
district, here it is right here,and you can see the great things
that our students are doing, andthat just motivates me and
inspires me to continue doingthis really, really tough work.
Chad Bolser (17:53):
So again, thinking about, you know, superintendents
and leaders who are listening.
What advice do you have forother superintendents who are
struggling to cultivateengagement within diverse
communities.
Adam Clark (18:06):
Yeah. So one thing that I had to learn the hard way
as a superintendent when I firststarted is the role of the
superintendent is like noneother in the educational system,
and that's primarily because wework for a governing board. I
have a wealth of experience.
I've been in all different typesof schools. I've worked with all
different types of students.
(18:26):
However, I have to answer andwork alongside a five member
board, and so I have tounderstand as superintendent,
I'm only as effective as myboard is effective, and
oftentimes superintendents willrise to the level of
superintendent, and then theywill think that they have to do
(18:48):
all the work, they have to doall the messaging, they have to
do everything. But really,you're part of a governance team
with that board, so you have tospend a lot of time with your
board. You have to understandwhat motivates them, why they
went into public service, whythey ran if they had kids go
through the systems, what werethose experiences like? And so
(19:09):
you have to really cultivate andspend time to develop that
relationship. Because without aschool board, then it's really,
you know, swimming upstream, andthat's where a lot of
superintendents can fall off.
And sometimes, you know, it'sjust not a fit between a
superintendent and a board. Andwith having elections every two
years, sometimes the board thathires you may all be out, or the
majority of them may be outafter the next election, and
(19:32):
things like that. And so thoseare just some of the pitfalls
that I see some superintendentsmaking that that they really,
you know? Because when you're anassistant superintendent, it all
falls on you, right? You're thedoer. You have to go out and do
all these things, but whenyou're superintendent, you have
to ensure that people are doingthose things, and you're working
with that governing board ongovernance of the district. Now,
(19:54):
of course, you have to knoweverything that's going on, and
you have to be in all themeetings and. Have to have
knowledge of everything, butreally my best piece of advice I
can give is to spend as muchtime with your board and really
cultivating that relationship.
Sarah Williamson (20:09):
Yeah, that's great advice. I'm curious. One
of the reasons we want to dothis podcast series with
superintendents was because wewere interviewing many of them
for a book that we're working onin defense of the
superintendency, with DougRoberts from IEI. He's writing
that book. And so one of thethings we continue to hear from
superintendent leaders is peoplethink we're robots. This is just
(20:31):
a job where often people thinkthat we're not human beings. And
so we thought, You know what,let's talk about that. Let's dig
into this question about why isit that people kind of forget
that superintendents are humanbeings, and how do we illuminate
the humanity of your role andhelp people see that you're real
people navigating complexchallenges to help provide the
(20:51):
best education for K 12students?
Adam Clark (20:54):
To answer that question, I think you have to
look back kind of on how ourconversation has gone. We talked
about this being very political.
We talked about things we say,even though some people might
pat us on the back for it, otherpeople are angry with us. And so
therefore we can go into kind ofthis robot mode, where we're
just giving sound bites, wherewe're just saying enough not to
(21:14):
upset so many people. And so Ithink that's where, you know, it
can sound like a pressconference where you're just
stating facts, you know, you'renot showing emotion, you're not
showing regret or excitement orthings like that. And so how I
approach it is, I want to showmy true self on who I am. Yes, I
do have to, at times, you know,speak properly and correct and
(21:38):
use the right terminology andthings like that, but at other
times, I got to show myself. Ihave to show excitement. I have
to show disappointment. I haveto talk about things that we
won't stand for, we won'ttolerate, and I need to be
forceful when I say thosethings. But then I need to show
true excitement and exuberancewhen you know when things are
happening. And just to givepeople an insight of that
(22:00):
personality, to laugh, to showup. Go to events. Go and talk to
people. I go, you know, I go toevents. I go speak to rotary and
go to games. Go to, you know,whenever I see police officers
on the street, you know, go overand introduce themselves, show
my ID, tell them who I am, thankthem for their service, and just
(22:21):
get out there and just talk topeople. And sometimes I talk to
people and they don't respond tome. I say hello, and they don't
respond back. I don't take itpersonally. I just smile and
just keep going. Sometimes Ioften say it to students, right?
Hey, how you doing today? Andthe student is going through
whatever. And I just let it go.
But I think, like giving peoplea glimpse of your personalities
(22:43):
is what they want to see. Andall of us came up as teachers or
principals or things like that.
So when we were those, we had todo that. But sometimes, as you
go higher and higher, you thinkyou have to be just that much
more buttoned up, and you can'tmake any mistakes. You can
never, like, you know, say, Hey,I was wrong. I made a mistake,
or we're trying to correct this,or something, everyone you know
(23:04):
wants to, you know, just alwaysseem like they're in control and
they have all the answers. I amperfectly capable saying I don't
have all the answers. I'mwilling to listen. And if you
have better answers, and youtell me because I need to know,
because I'm willing to dowhatever it takes to serve our
students and to give them whatthey need, but we're just going
to do it within ed code and bythe law and whatever is, you
(23:26):
know what's best for kids. And Ithink just showing that humility
and that kind of openness helpspeople look at you more as a
human rather than just someonewho they can shoot off really
cruel and nasty emails to orthey can make comments online
that, you know are not the best.
(23:48):
I am present on social media andmainly just post about work
stuff, but I will mix in afamily picture every now and
then, or an event. You know, Ilove going to sporting events or
going to see comedy shows, andso sometimes I'll, you know,
just put an easy picture upthere, just to say, like, Yeah,
I'm not just sitting at mycomputer all day long. Like, I
do have a life outside of thisand so I think that's something
(24:11):
that could help take that cloakdown and have people really see
us, you know, as the humans thatwe are.
Sarah Williamson (24:18):
That is such a great answer, Chad, I just have
to say authenticity is reallywhat you said, being authentic,
authentic human being. I think Ilove that. That's what we talk
about every day, too, with ourclients.
Adam Clark (24:29):
Good. Good.
Chad Bolser (24:30):
Yeah, and Sarah asked a great question there.
And I think we could spend aton, ton of time. We could spend
the entire episode digging intothat question. But I'm going to
ask the favorite question, myfavorite question for leaders,
we are advocates and supportersof K 12 systems and
(24:54):
superintendents. How would yousuggest for advocates like
ourselves, community members,parents, to better support our
nation's district leaders?
Adam Clark (25:07):
Yeah, I think sometimes people need to
understand the complexities ofthings, right and so and not
just when things are going bad.
So like school funding.
Understand how we are funded aspublic school districts and
things like that. You know, wedon't have unlimited resources.
We don't just see our kids asdollar signs. Yeah, we underpay.
(25:31):
You know, teachers are underpaidcompared to what top athletes or
actors or actresses make andthings like that. And I think,
you know, just educating peopleabout the complexities of our
systems, I think, would help.
And so trying to interview thefinance people, interviewing
people around school bonds andstuff. And why is it that we
have to go out for bonds tobuild new schools or to create,
(25:55):
you know, provide upgrades toour current schools understand
about academic achievement, andyou know really what test scores
mean. I always find when I breakdown some of our systems and
regular people terms and not usea bunch of acronyms or talk at
people or above people, but justcompare it to real life
(26:18):
situations that they get abetter understanding of what's
going on, and that, you know, wearen't these robot these evil
people who are just trying to,you know, not educate kids and
not pay teachers and not buildnice, shiny new facilities and
things like that. But then it'sa system, right? And if you
apply resources to one part ofthe system, another part of the
(26:40):
system is not going to get thoseresources. So I think helping us
tell those stories, and usingengaging people to do that, and
creating infographics and thingslike that to help people, you
know, because we go to school,right? But not everyone
understands about running theschool or about those things,
but, you know, just like so manyother things in our society,
(27:02):
people look at something andsay, Oh, I can do that. I can
make those decisions. Or whatare they thinking about that
place? They have no idea what'sgoing on. Well, let's tell our
story. Let's hear from town hallmeetings and stuff like that.
Like those are all things that Ithink you guys can do a good job
at illuminating and telling thestories of not just
(27:23):
superintendents, but those whoimpact the superintendency, a
parent, a board member, anassistant superintendent of
business, a teacher, a student,and really just tell the story
of the system, and then peoplemight get a better understanding
of how complex These systems areand why it's not just so easy to
build a new school or to raisetest scores 20 points in one
(27:45):
year, or have everyone eligibleto go to a nice Ivy League
school, or, you know, school ofyour choice, you know, or things
like that, or just open uppathways. You know, one of the
reasons why I became sopassionate about telling our
story is because as I listenedto kind of the narrative that
was out there, and then I wouldgo out and see with my own eyes
(28:07):
and talk to people I was going,this is not the narrative that I
see. So just the more that weopen up what's going on in our
schools and the programs andamazing people who work in our
programs and it's been and howstudents and families benefit,
then I think that can help getthat message across that all
superintendents aren't so badand don't need to get lambasted
(28:28):
on social media and the commentspages and at board meetings and
things like that. Like a typicalexample, we can't respond in
public comments at a boardmeeting, so when people come and
say things that, like, eitheraren't true or bring up a
heinous story that, like, wewould never support, and things
like that, we can't respond. Wecan't say, oh, we investigated
(28:50):
that and we terminated thatemployee, or things like that,
like, we can't share thosethings. So we just have to sit
there, and then that gives thepublic this perception that
we're not doing anything, and solike telling those stories could
really help.
Sarah Williamson (29:04):
Yeah, that must be so frustrating. I mean,
we all, I don't think any of us,most of us, could not be
superintendents. It's a specialkind of person that can take
this role on. So thank you foreverything you're doing. I think
you lend an incredible insightsthis conversation. So such an
honor to see you again, and Ihope to see at ASA this year.
Adam Clark (29:25):
Yes, well, I just, I just appreciate you all, you
know, giving us a platform totell our stories and to bring
that out to the communitiesthere, and that this is, you
know, on the heels of a bookthat you all were writing, I
think that, you know, we all dothings, and there's and there's
unintended consequences fromthose things, and that doesn't
mean it's a bad thing. So thisjust exposed like there was more
(29:48):
work to be done. And I know howwriting a book is, right? So you
gotta, at some point, you gottastop writing and you gotta start
editing, but you want theconversation going. So I just
appreciate the opportunity.
Appreciate you providing thisinsight for others, and I look
forward to following the goodwork that you all are doing. So
thank you so much for allowingme to take a break from my day
and share some positiveexperiences.
Sarah Williamson (30:10):
Thank you so much. And will you share where
our listeners can follow you onsocial?
Adam Clark (30:15):
Yeah. So you can find me on LinkedIn @mraclark29
and you can find me on Twitterat the same handle, @mraclark29
or you can always visit theMount Diablo website, and see
some of the wonderful thingsthat we're doing there. And
that's just mdusd.org so alwaysexcited to engage with with
(30:39):
folks out there who want tolearn more share stories about
education, because educating ouryouth is the best career that's
out there. So thank you so much.
Sarah Williamson (30:49):
Thank you, Chad you want to say bye.
Chad Bolser (30:51):
Thank you so much.
This has been great.
Adam Clark (30:53):
Oh, good. And thank you guys for all you're doing,
Sarah, it's great seeing you.
And thank you for following upand thinking of me and giving me
this opportunity to talk to youall today.
Chad Bolser (31:03):
Thanks for tuning into the Build Momentum for
Education podcast. If youenjoyed listening today, we
would love to hear yourfeedback, and we'd be grateful
if you could leave us a review.
Sarah Williamson (31:14):
This helps us to share these powerful stories
with even more people. If youliked what you heard, we'd be
honored if you could share thisepisode with someone in your
network. We look forward toseeing you next time on. Build
Momentum for Education.
Hello and welcome to Build Momentum for
Education, a Podcast where weexplore thought leadership in
education. I'm Sarah Williamson,the founder of SWPR Group, an
agency that supports publicrelations, communication
strategies and thoughtleadership, support for school
districts, education companiesand nonprofit organizations.
Chad Bolser (00:23):
And I'm Chad Bolser, Chancellor at Ivy Tech
Community College in Indiana.
This season, we explore aparticularly unique perspective
in K 12 thought leadership,humanizing the role of the
superintendent.
Sarah Williamson (00:36):
Throughout the many conversations we continue
to have with superintendents, aclear theme has emerged about
the need to bring more humanityinto the role of the
superintendency. In this specialseries, we interview current and
former superintendents andresearchers to pursue the core
question, how can we better seesuperintendents as real people
navigating complex challenges toprovide the best possible
(00:56):
education for K 12 students?
Chad Bolser (00:58):
We dig deeper into how this important work can help
build community, invitecollaboration and increase
widespread engagement.
Sarah Williamson (01:08):
We can't wait to get started, so let's dive
in. We are so fortunate today tohave Dr. Adam Clark with us from
Mount Diablo, Unified SchoolDistrict. Welcome Adam. Thanks
for joining us.
Adam Clark (01:21):
Thank you so much.
I'm extremely excited to be hereand to talk to you all about
leaving school districts and howentertaining and fun that is.
Sarah Williamson (01:30):
So fun. Yeah, that's actually what we want to
get into how much fun it istoday. So tell us about your
career in education and yourcurrent role at Mount Diablo.
Adam Clark (01:38):
So I started off as an elementary school teacher, I
wanted to teach young people toread by third grade, that was my
plan. And so I taught the secondgrade and also taught the fifth
grade. And then I moved intoadministration. I was a middle
school vice principal,elementary principal, middle
school principal, high schoolprincipal, and then I
(01:59):
transitioned into the districtoffice, where I was assistant
superintendent of studentservices, and then I was
Associate Superintendent of Edservices, and then I was named
superintendent of the VallejoCity Unified School District,
and I served there for threeyears, and currently for the
last four years, and going intomy fifth year, I'm Leading the
(02:20):
Mount Diablo Unified SchoolDistrict. We have 29,000
students and 55 schools, 3800employees.
Chad Bolser (02:27):
That's amazing, and lots of entertainment,
enjoyment, challenge, all thatgood stuff. So what have you
found to be the most rewardingaspect of serving as
superintendent, and what hasbrought you the most joy?
Adam Clark (02:40):
Yeah, well, in all of those, as I just ran through
kind of a very quick, justhistory of my career in
education, all of those jobsthat I served were all in very
unique and different places. Andwhether, you know, I was in
areas with high poverty orextreme wealth, or in very
diverse, or not diverse areas.
You know, I always found itchallenging to shape the young
(03:03):
students and someone ineducation, you always want to
embrace challenges. And what Imean by challenges is every
student's different, and sotrying to use a one size
approach to meet the needs ofstudents is extremely different.
Even when I was a classroomteacher and had 33 kids in my
class, it was extremelychallenging to meet every
student's need, and that waskind of what brought me joy and
(03:25):
excitement to this career. Sobeing superintendent, I have
29,000 students, and being ableto shape an organization where
we look at the individualstrengths and weaknesses of each
and every student, or each andevery school or things like
that, really create like thishuge puzzle, this huge system,
which is almost like a Rubik'sCube, right? Like you're making
(03:49):
progress on one side, but thenthe other side is all mixed up,
and so then you have to applysome attention over there. So I
just really enjoy positivelyimpacting students by creating
systems that support their eachand every need.
Sarah Williamson (04:04):
Yeah, that is no small feat, that's for sure.
Yeah, I have a son with specialneeds, and I mean the amount of
work that goes into just him, inaddition to the 32 other kids in
the class, I do not envy therole of a teacher, but it's
pretty amazing what you're ableto pull off, and how we can
actually get all these peoplereading and all the things. So
(04:25):
thank you for that. So I'mcurious, one of the reasons we
actually wanted to talk aboutthis specific topic is RAN did a
study in 2023 and we're talkingto every superintendent we
interview about this, but thatthey found that district leaders
have one of the most stressfuljobs in America, and politics is
one of the main reasons for thatstress. I'm curious how you feel
(04:46):
about that research and howyou've been able to deal with
the stress in the role of thesuperintendency.
Adam Clark (04:52):
Yeah, so it is definitely a high stress job.
I've had some ailments, somehealth challenges that I never
had before, and I don't know, Idon't know if I can. Equate that
to just getting older, or ifit's just raising my stress
level. So I really do look at mystress very close to that. I
take my blood pressure everysingle morning, I keep a running
chart. Tonight I have a boardmeeting, and so I always know
(05:13):
around board meetings that bloodpressure goes up a little bit,
and even if it's a noncontroversial board meeting, you
know, with nothing on the agendathat's going to really raise
eyebrows, I still get thoselevels of stress. And I think
one of the things that makesthis job stressful is that so
many different things, you know,end up in on my desk. And
(05:33):
whether it is student safety,whether it's employee
discipline, whether it's stuffthat's going on in the
communities in Mount Diablo, weserve seven different
communities, and they're allextremely different and diverse.
And so there are things that popup in the community, that play
themselves out in our schoolsand in our classrooms, and so
(05:54):
trying to get a handle on that,and just to be aware of
everything that's happening. Andthen, like I shared earlier,
like I embrace challenges and Irun towards challenges, but as
superintendent, sometimes Ican't be the one necessarily
that's touching every singlething out there. I have to
really rely and depend on myteam and to have faith in their
(06:17):
leadership and their ability tomake decisions. So whether it's
students or staff or my districtoffice team, or just the
community needs and things likethat, that's really what adds to
that stress level. When we talkabout politics, everything's
political in schools. It may notnecessarily be the stuff that's
on a national level, but clearlythe local politics, one
(06:40):
community may have crossingguards and another community may
not, because that particularcity went out for a grant to pay
for crossing guards. And so thenas superintendent, I have to be
able to manage the issues ofhaving crossing guards in one
city and not in another, butthey're all under the district's
umbrella. And so that constantpull, you know, all my time on
(07:01):
my heart strings, on our system,really caused those stress
levels to go up. And so it'sreal important that, you know,
we find ways to recognize thatstress and to address it.
Chad Bolser (07:12):
Well, I think this is a related question, which is,
how do you think the scrutiny ofthe superintendency has changed
over the past few years.
Adam Clark (07:21):
Yeah. So one thing that has really changed since
the pandemic is the televising,or the broadcasting of our
meetings. Oftentimes, we wouldrecord our meetings, maybe, you
know, on tape, if that seems asforeign as it can be. But then
just very few districts actuallylike live broadcast their
meetings. And then, since thepandemic, when we all had to go
(07:43):
on Zoom or Google meets, thenour board meetings became, you
know, just accessible toeveryone to sit in there, sit on
their couch and actually watch aboard meeting. And quite
honestly, with thesuperintendent, no matter how
large or small your district is,you know, you're that face on
the marquee. And so whether Ican make a decision, it's just a
(08:03):
common, you know, regulardecision, and half the people
are going to think, oh mygoodness, it's the best thing.
And, you know, the guy's agenius, and thank goodness for
him. And the other half issaying, oh my goodness, what are
they thinking about it? Theylost their mind. Who's actually
doing that? So that's just on abasic decision. And so then when
you really start getting intocontroversial decisions, maybe
(08:23):
like, not that I've had to dealwith this, but I've read about
it, maybe like you have toremove the local high school
football coach or something likethat, then that brings in those
politics, right? You haveinfluential people whose kids
play on the team or things likethat, and then your board starts
getting involved and things likethat. And, you know, speaking of
board, the only employee of agoverning board is
(08:46):
Superintendent, and they are allelected officials. So depending
on whether they're aspiring forhigher seats or whether, you
know, they have a particulararea of focus that they ran on,
or, you know, campaign on, thenthose things start to play into
the process of decision making.
And so I always have to be awareof the decisions that we make,
(09:07):
or the statements that we makeon how the other folks are going
to be impacted by thosedecisions. And I just try to do
what's best for students, andtry to do best what for our
parents, and then do what's bestfor our employees, you know? And
then those things just sort ofplay out, but it's all
political.
Sarah Williamson (09:25):
I mean, when you're talking about people's
kids, yep, and most the emotionscome out nothing scarier than an
angry mom, right?
Adam Clark (09:33):
Yes. And one thing, one reason you know that I think
I've been able to navigate, youknow, these waters is I have
three kids myself. I mean,they're well now, they've been
through a quick K 12 system.
They've been through higher ed,you know, they've all graduated
colleges with degrees and arenow working. So I've actually
been through the process. And soI do remember how it was to be a
young parent, and to rememberhow, you know, maybe I didn't
(09:55):
have all the information, and Ijust sort of React. It to
certain things. I also rememberbeing a student myself, and
that's one thing I try to remindpeople, is remember when you
were a student, remember howyour mind worked, or the things
that were important to you. Soit's no wonder that some of the
things that are very importantto us adults, like our kids,
really could, you know, don'treally have an interest in in
learning about those things ordoing those things, but when
(10:18):
you're working with people'smost prized possession, and
that's their kids. You have tounderstand that every parent
just wants what's best for theirkid, and sometimes they go about
advocating in different ways.
And it might be yelling in theoffice, it might be getting a
lawyer send you a letter, or itmight be to send emails, or it
might just be to show up, butwith the lens as they're just
(10:42):
trying to do what's best fortheir child, that helps take
out, you know, some of thatsting when sometimes, you know,
a mad parent might say somethings that aren't so nice, or,
you know, you have to kind ofnavigate some conflicts that
take place. But when you'reultimately trying to do what's
best for all kids, you know, youtend to fall on that right side
and be able to bring peoplearound to be able to see why
(11:04):
certain decisions were made.
Yeah, that's a really goodperspective to keep for sure.
I'm curious. You said you haveseven different communities
where all of your schools arebased. That's really complex.
How are you able to bring allthose different communities
together to see your vision forthe district and unify them in a
positive way. Is that possible?
(11:24):
Yeah, well, it's great because,you know, everyone's competing
for resources, right? So that'skind of what comes together. But
the way that I try to do that iswe have some very specific goals
as a district, and so I try tocommunicate those goals every
opportunity I get, so thateveryone, regardless of what
(11:46):
community you're in, you hearthose goals, and you can apply
those goals to your currentsituation. So whether you're an
elementary parent, and we'retalking about Chromebooks for
everybody, for all of ourstudents, then you're able to,
you know, understand how thatimpacts you. We have some
communities where they're reallyexcited to get a Chromebook. We
(12:07):
have some other communities thatthey're not that excited to get
a Chromebook because they have aMac already, or they have an
iPad or something that they useso but when our goal is that,
you know, all students will beexposed and have equal access to
technology, then you're able totemper those differences with
Well, what our goal is is tomake sure students have access
(12:28):
to technology, and we'reproviding this to actually
really put our resources behindwhat our goals are saying. But
the other thing that we do, kindof to bring everyone together,
is communication andtransparency. So our websites
are kind of that first thingthat people see, especially in
this day and time like everyonechecks a website. So at the
(12:49):
district level, we try to put asmuch information as possible on
our district website, and we tryto set the example for our 55
schools so that they keep theirwebsites open. Probably one of
the most successful things we dois every Friday, we published a
very comprehensive newsletterabout all the things that have
taken place in our district thatweek. And we don't just focus on
(13:12):
one community. We really try toI mean, if we have readers who
read every week, they will seetheir schools, they will see
their communities, maybe notevery week, but they will see
stories that highlight thesuccesses of their students, of
the commitments of the educatorsor the leaders within those
communities, and then that giveseveryone kind of that good
feeling about their localdistrict and what our district
(13:33):
is doing to support theirstudents and to support whatever
their goals and aspirations are.
Our goal is to prepare everystudent for college and career.
So we don't pigeonhole certainstudents towards college or
pigeonhole certain studentstowards career. We want to
prepare them for both and so bydoing that, we're able to unite
the community around thosecommon goals.
Chad Bolser (13:56):
Adam, how as individuals listen to this who
are district leaders orcommunity members. How
representative Do you think yourown experiences are compared to
other superintendents locally inyour state, even nationally?
What do you think about that?
Adam Clark (14:13):
Yeah, so I've had a very unique upbringing. I've had
a upbringing where I was exposedto many, many different people
from all sorts of backgrounds,and I'm one who, when I was
younger, I really wasn't thatengaged in school. And, you
know, maybe even, you know, Inever thought I would be in
education. And one of thereasons why I chose to go into
(14:35):
education in my early, early 20swas because, as I thought back
on my own experiences. I wasmotivated by all the adults that
I came in contact with, andreally wanted to very simple. I
wanted students. When I lookback on my schooling, even
though I wasn't all thatengaged, I still had extremely
(14:56):
positive experiences, and so Iwanted to make sure that
students had positiveexperiences under my care,
whether I was a teacher, whetherI was the vice principal,
Principal, Superintendent. So Ialways made it a point to use my
personality, to use myextensive, you know, social
(15:16):
skills, you know, and not beingintimidated by any groups of
people or not thinking I'mbetter or less than or anything,
but just being genuine withpeople. And I think by bringing
that to the superintendency,that's how I've been, you know,
successful in every place thatI've been. Every place that I've
been, they say the same thingabout me, Dr Clark, or Mr.
(15:36):
Clark, at the time, he caredabout kids. He went above and
beyond, like he always let usknow that we were important and
that he was working hard for ourbenefit and to increase our
excitement about learning andour success levels and things
like that. And then lastly is, Idon't judge, you know, I don't
have any preconceived notions ofwhat students certain students
(15:57):
should be doing or not doing, orif students make a mistake or
say the wrong thing, or maybefail a class or something. I
don't judge them. I just buildthem up and just, you know, let
them know that they're young andthings are going to happen. You
know, when I was a high schoolprincipal, students would get
so, so concerned about going tocollege, and this is on my list,
and this is my and I would justtell them, just, very calmly,
(16:20):
you're going to end up in theright place. It may be your
first choice. It may be, youknow, your eighth choice or
something, but you're going toend up in the right place. And
that's kind of what happened,you know, to me. I went to
college because it was just kindof like the thing to do, and
once I really engaged and gotserious about it, I had, I had a
great time. I was totally happywith where I ended up, but it
(16:40):
may not have been my firstchoice, or, you know, things
like that, but just having thatattitude, I think, is really
what contributes to my success.
Sarah Williamson (16:48):
Yeah, I definitely agree you are
engaging when I first met you.
You're definitely an engagingpersonality. And I'm sure your
students see that, and it's atestament when that's how they
describe you, as someone whocares about you. We've talked a
lot about that in PR and commsis, what would people describe
you? How would people describeyou? What do they say about you
and your job as asuperintendent? Because if they
don't have an answer, they'regoing to make something up, and
(17:08):
you don't want them to makesomething up, so it's good they
all have an answer.
Adam Clark (17:13):
Yeah. And you know, and I believe, in these times
where public education iscontinually being questioned or
sometimes under attack, I wantto tell our story, and so that's
why I'm so proud of our Fridaynewsletter that we publish every
single week. I'm telling thestory of our students and of our
staff and our communities. I'mnot letting rumors tell it, or
(17:34):
what people thought of ourschools 20 years ago or 10 years
ago, or what you know they readabout a school outside of the
state or something. If you wantto know what's going on in our
district, here it is right here,and you can see the great things
that our students are doing, andthat just motivates me and
inspires me to continue doingthis really, really tough work.
Chad Bolser (17:53):
So again, thinking about, you know, superintendents
and leaders who are listening.
What advice do you have forother superintendents who are
struggling to cultivateengagement within diverse
communities.
Adam Clark (18:06):
Yeah. So one thing that I had to learn the hard way
as a superintendent when I firststarted is the role of the
superintendent is like noneother in the educational system,
and that's primarily because wework for a governing board. I
have a wealth of experience.
I've been in all different typesof schools. I've worked with all
different types of students.
(18:26):
However, I have to answer andwork alongside a five member
board, and so I have tounderstand as superintendent,
I'm only as effective as myboard is effective, and
oftentimes superintendents willrise to the level of
superintendent, and then theywill think that they have to do
(18:48):
all the work, they have to doall the messaging, they have to
do everything. But really,you're part of a governance team
with that board, so you have tospend a lot of time with your
board. You have to understandwhat motivates them, why they
went into public service, whythey ran if they had kids go
through the systems, what werethose experiences like? And so
(19:09):
you have to really cultivate andspend time to develop that
relationship. Because without aschool board, then it's really,
you know, swimming upstream, andthat's where a lot of
superintendents can fall off.
And sometimes, you know, it'sjust not a fit between a
superintendent and a board. Andwith having elections every two
years, sometimes the board thathires you may all be out, or the
majority of them may be outafter the next election, and
(19:32):
things like that. And so thoseare just some of the pitfalls
that I see some superintendentsmaking that that they really,
you know? Because when you're anassistant superintendent, it all
falls on you, right? You're thedoer. You have to go out and do
all these things, but whenyou're superintendent, you have
to ensure that people are doingthose things, and you're working
with that governing board ongovernance of the district. Now,
(19:54):
of course, you have to knoweverything that's going on, and
you have to be in all themeetings and. Have to have
knowledge of everything, butreally my best piece of advice I
can give is to spend as muchtime with your board and really
cultivating that relationship.
Sarah Williamson (20:09):
Yeah, that's great advice. I'm curious. One
of the reasons we want to dothis podcast series with
superintendents was because wewere interviewing many of them
for a book that we're working onin defense of the
superintendency, with DougRoberts from IEI. He's writing
that book. And so one of thethings we continue to hear from
superintendent leaders is peoplethink we're robots. This is just
(20:31):
a job where often people thinkthat we're not human beings. And
so we thought, You know what,let's talk about that. Let's dig
into this question about why isit that people kind of forget
that superintendents are humanbeings, and how do we illuminate
the humanity of your role andhelp people see that you're real
people navigating complexchallenges to help provide the
(20:51):
best education for K 12students?
Adam Clark (20:54):
To answer that question, I think you have to
look back kind of on how ourconversation has gone. We talked
about this being very political.
We talked about things we say,even though some people might
pat us on the back for it, otherpeople are angry with us. And so
therefore we can go into kind ofthis robot mode, where we're
just giving sound bites, wherewe're just saying enough not to
(21:14):
upset so many people. And so Ithink that's where, you know, it
can sound like a pressconference where you're just
stating facts, you know, you'renot showing emotion, you're not
showing regret or excitement orthings like that. And so how I
approach it is, I want to showmy true self on who I am. Yes, I
do have to, at times, you know,speak properly and correct and
(21:38):
use the right terminology andthings like that, but at other
times, I got to show myself. Ihave to show excitement. I have
to show disappointment. I haveto talk about things that we
won't stand for, we won'ttolerate, and I need to be
forceful when I say thosethings. But then I need to show
true excitement and exuberancewhen you know when things are
happening. And just to givepeople an insight of that
(22:00):
personality, to laugh, to showup. Go to events. Go and talk to
people. I go, you know, I go toevents. I go speak to rotary and
go to games. Go to, you know,whenever I see police officers
on the street, you know, go overand introduce themselves, show
my ID, tell them who I am, thankthem for their service, and just
(22:21):
get out there and just talk topeople. And sometimes I talk to
people and they don't respond tome. I say hello, and they don't
respond back. I don't take itpersonally. I just smile and
just keep going. Sometimes Ioften say it to students, right?
Hey, how you doing today? Andthe student is going through
whatever. And I just let it go.
But I think, like giving peoplea glimpse of your personalities
(22:43):
is what they want to see. Andall of us came up as teachers or
principals or things like that.
So when we were those, we had todo that. But sometimes, as you
go higher and higher, you thinkyou have to be just that much
more buttoned up, and you can'tmake any mistakes. You can
never, like, you know, say, Hey,I was wrong. I made a mistake,
or we're trying to correct this,or something, everyone you know
(23:04):
wants to, you know, just alwaysseem like they're in control and
they have all the answers. I amperfectly capable saying I don't
have all the answers. I'mwilling to listen. And if you
have better answers, and youtell me because I need to know,
because I'm willing to dowhatever it takes to serve our
students and to give them whatthey need, but we're just going
to do it within ed code and bythe law and whatever is, you
(23:26):
know what's best for kids. And Ithink just showing that humility
and that kind of openness helpspeople look at you more as a
human rather than just someonewho they can shoot off really
cruel and nasty emails to orthey can make comments online
that, you know are not the best.
(23:48):
I am present on social media andmainly just post about work
stuff, but I will mix in afamily picture every now and
then, or an event. You know, Ilove going to sporting events or
going to see comedy shows, andso sometimes I'll, you know,
just put an easy picture upthere, just to say, like, Yeah,
I'm not just sitting at mycomputer all day long. Like, I
do have a life outside of thisand so I think that's something
(24:11):
that could help take that cloakdown and have people really see
us, you know, as the humans thatwe are.
Sarah Williamson (24:18):
That is such a great answer, Chad, I just have
to say authenticity is reallywhat you said, being authentic,
authentic human being. I think Ilove that. That's what we talk
about every day, too, with ourclients.
Adam Clark (24:29):
Good. Good.
Chad Bolser (24:30):
Yeah, and Sarah asked a great question there.
And I think we could spend aton, ton of time. We could spend
the entire episode digging intothat question. But I'm going to
ask the favorite question, myfavorite question for leaders,
we are advocates and supportersof K 12 systems and
(24:54):
superintendents. How would yousuggest for advocates like
ourselves, community members,parents, to better support our
nation's district leaders?
Adam Clark (25:07):
Yeah, I think sometimes people need to
understand the complexities ofthings, right and so and not
just when things are going bad.
So like school funding.
Understand how we are funded aspublic school districts and
things like that. You know, wedon't have unlimited resources.
We don't just see our kids asdollar signs. Yeah, we underpay.
(25:31):
You know, teachers are underpaidcompared to what top athletes or
actors or actresses make andthings like that. And I think,
you know, just educating peopleabout the complexities of our
systems, I think, would help.
And so trying to interview thefinance people, interviewing
people around school bonds andstuff. And why is it that we
have to go out for bonds tobuild new schools or to create,
(25:55):
you know, provide upgrades toour current schools understand
about academic achievement, andyou know really what test scores
mean. I always find when I breakdown some of our systems and
regular people terms and not usea bunch of acronyms or talk at
people or above people, but justcompare it to real life
(26:18):
situations that they get abetter understanding of what's
going on, and that, you know, wearen't these robot these evil
people who are just trying to,you know, not educate kids and
not pay teachers and not buildnice, shiny new facilities and
things like that. But then it'sa system, right? And if you
apply resources to one part ofthe system, another part of the
(26:40):
system is not going to get thoseresources. So I think helping us
tell those stories, and usingengaging people to do that, and
creating infographics and thingslike that to help people, you
know, because we go to school,right? But not everyone
understands about running theschool or about those things,
but, you know, just like so manyother things in our society,
(27:02):
people look at something andsay, Oh, I can do that. I can
make those decisions. Or whatare they thinking about that
place? They have no idea what'sgoing on. Well, let's tell our
story. Let's hear from town hallmeetings and stuff like that.
Like those are all things that Ithink you guys can do a good job
at illuminating and telling thestories of not just
(27:23):
superintendents, but those whoimpact the superintendency, a
parent, a board member, anassistant superintendent of
business, a teacher, a student,and really just tell the story
of the system, and then peoplemight get a better understanding
of how complex These systems areand why it's not just so easy to
build a new school or to raisetest scores 20 points in one
(27:45):
year, or have everyone eligibleto go to a nice Ivy League
school, or, you know, school ofyour choice, you know, or things
like that, or just open uppathways. You know, one of the
reasons why I became sopassionate about telling our
story is because as I listenedto kind of the narrative that
was out there, and then I wouldgo out and see with my own eyes
(28:07):
and talk to people I was going,this is not the narrative that I
see. So just the more that weopen up what's going on in our
schools and the programs andamazing people who work in our
programs and it's been and howstudents and families benefit,
then I think that can help getthat message across that all
superintendents aren't so badand don't need to get lambasted
(28:28):
on social media and the commentspages and at board meetings and
things like that. Like a typicalexample, we can't respond in
public comments at a boardmeeting, so when people come and
say things that, like, eitheraren't true or bring up a
heinous story that, like, wewould never support, and things
like that, we can't respond. Wecan't say, oh, we investigated
(28:50):
that and we terminated thatemployee, or things like that,
like, we can't share thosethings. So we just have to sit
there, and then that gives thepublic this perception that
we're not doing anything, and solike telling those stories could
really help.
Sarah Williamson (29:04):
Yeah, that must be so frustrating. I mean,
we all, I don't think any of us,most of us, could not be
superintendents. It's a specialkind of person that can take
this role on. So thank you foreverything you're doing. I think
you lend an incredible insightsthis conversation. So such an
honor to see you again, and Ihope to see at ASA this year.
Adam Clark (29:25):
Yes, well, I just, I just appreciate you all, you
know, giving us a platform totell our stories and to bring
that out to the communitiesthere, and that this is, you
know, on the heels of a bookthat you all were writing, I
think that, you know, we all dothings, and there's and there's
unintended consequences fromthose things, and that doesn't
mean it's a bad thing. So thisjust exposed like there was more
(29:48):
work to be done. And I know howwriting a book is, right? So you
gotta, at some point, you gottastop writing and you gotta start
editing, but you want theconversation going. So I just
appreciate the opportunity.
Appreciate you providing thisinsight for others, and I look
forward to following the goodwork that you all are doing. So
thank you so much for allowingme to take a break from my day
and share some positiveexperiences.
Sarah Williamson (30:10):
Thank you so much. And will you share where
our listeners can follow you onsocial?
Adam Clark (30:15):
Yeah. So you can find me on LinkedIn @mraclark29
and you can find me on Twitterat the same handle, @mraclark29
or you can always visit theMount Diablo website, and see
some of the wonderful thingsthat we're doing there. And
that's just mdusd.org so alwaysexcited to engage with with
(30:39):
folks out there who want tolearn more share stories about
education, because educating ouryouth is the best career that's
out there. So thank you so much.
Sarah Williamson (30:49):
Thank you, Chad you want to say bye.
Chad Bolser (30:51):
Thank you so much.
This has been great.
Adam Clark (30:53):
Oh, good. And thank you guys for all you're doing,
Sarah, it's great seeing you.
And thank you for following upand thinking of me and giving me
this opportunity to talk to youall today.
Chad Bolser (31:03):
Thanks for tuning into the Build Momentum for
Education podcast. If youenjoyed listening today, we
would love to hear yourfeedback, and we'd be grateful
if you could leave us a review.
Sarah Williamson (31:14):
This helps us to share these powerful stories
with even more people. If youliked what you heard, we'd be
honored if you could share thisepisode with someone in your
network. We look forward toseeing you next time on. Build
Momentum for Education.
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