In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Heidi Sipe, Superintendent of Umatilla School District in Oregon, a role she has held for a remarkable 17 years. Heidi previously served as the district’s Federal Programs Director and Assistant Superintendent for five years. She also has a higher education background: She is an Adjunct Professor at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon and was an Adjunct Professor at Concordia University in Chicago. Heidi brings a government perspective as well, having served as an Assistant Superintendent in the Oregon Department of Education.
Some Questions We Ask:
- What is the most rewarding aspect of serving as a superintendent? (01:24)
- What is your opinion about the 2023 RAND Study and how do you cope with stress in the superintendency? (02:06)
- How has scrutiny of the superintendency changed over the years? (03:26)
- What are your strategies for bringing the community together to see your vision as a superintendent? (06:51)
- How do you gauge the engagement level of your community? (10:00)
- Do you think your stress level as a superintendent is representative of others across the nation? (11:30)
- What creative ways have you used storytelling and communication? (13:04)
- What’s your advice to district leaders who are having difficulty building a community? (16:56)
- Why is it important to see superintendents as real people? (20:02)
- How can we better support superintendents in their roles? (21:39)
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Rewarding aspects of the superintendency (01:33)
- Dr. Sipe’s opinion on the 2023 RAND study and stress coping mechanisms (02:22)
- Scrutiny of the superintendency (03:31)
- Bringing the community together around one vision (07:01)
- Gauging community engagement levels (10:12)
- Stress level comparisons among superintendents (11:41)
- Creative ways of reaching out to the community (13:17)
- Advice for other district leaders (17:01)
- The importance of humanizing superintendents (20:28)
- Tips for advocating for superintendents (21:50)
Quotes:
“How I do parental involvement: I try to be places. I try to visit. I try to get to know people.”
“We can't ever forget that we are given this incredible opportunity—but also responsibility—to be a partner in raising the next generation of leaders, and if we don't own that and recognize the significance of it, we're failing our communities. No one's going to trust someone to be a partner in raising their kid unless they know that person and they know what they stand for."
Stay in touch with Heidi Sipe:
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 a
particularly unique perspectivein K 12 thought leadership,
humanizing the role of thesuperintendent.
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. Today on Build Momentum forEducation. We are so fortunate
to have Heidi Sipe,Superintendent at the Umatilla
School District in Oregonjoining us. Welcome, Heidi,
Heidi Sipe (01:22):
Thank you for having me.
Sarah Williamson (01:23):
Yes. First, would you mind kicking it off by
sharing what you found to be themost rewarding aspects of
serving as a superintendent?
Heidi Sipe (01:33):
My favorite thing is grand students. So I've been in
this district for 25 years. I'vebeen the superintendent for 18
and so I get to see generationsof kids, and nothing makes me
happier than seeing grandstudents show up as kinder. And
my oldest grand student isactually going to be a senior
this next year, and that'sbittersweet for me, but I'm
(01:53):
really proud of her and herparents.
Chad Bolser (01:55):
That's really cool.
And we've enjoyed having theseconversations with
superintendents like you, and tohear them talk about the
relationships that they build issuper, super awesome. So but we
asked this question at 2023RAND, study found that
superintendents have one of themost stressful jobs in America.
And do you agree with thesefindings, and how have you been
(02:16):
able to cope with the stress ofthis challenging role throughout
your career.
Heidi Sipe (02:21):
So yes, it is absolutely an incredibly
stressful job. That's also oneof my favorite things about this
work. I always call this my newjob no matter how many years
I've been doing it, becauseevery year is so different. I
mean, it's just not the same jobyear to year. Everything's in
flux, and I love that part ofit, but it's also incredibly
stressful, and so the biggestthing that I do to manage the
(02:45):
stress professionally is I relyheavily on colleagues, my
original mentors, from when Iwas very first starting off in
my career. I still connect withthem as often as I possibly can.
I still learn from them. Andthrough the years, I've helped a
variety of people when they'restarting in their career, but I
rely upon them too, and Ibelieve that all mentorship is
(03:07):
really a two way conversation,and we all need each other as
mentors. I don't have mentees. Ihave mentors who mentor me, and
I try to mentor them.
Sarah Williamson (03:15):
Yes, we definitely have heard that from
Oregon superintendents andleaders throughout the state
that you are looked to as aleader and a mentor. So thank
you for that. I'm also curious,how do you think the scrutiny of
the role of the superintendenthas changed over the past few
years?
Heidi Sipe (03:31):
Social media has changed the game entirely. And
when I first started as asuperintendent, people would
come to the office when they hadconcerns, and I could form a cup
of coffee and we could sit andhave a conversation, and even if
they were angry, I couldunderstand why. I could take the
time to listen and reallyunderstand where their anger was
coming from, and use that tolearn how we could do better to
(03:54):
meet their needs and meet theirstudents needs in a more
productive and positive way forthem. And I valued those.
Through the years, I've had lessand less of those types of
conversations and more socialmedia battles that I won't get
in the middle of, but I will seethem, where people will send me
screenshots of them. And so Ihave a policy if I see someone
(04:15):
that is really going off onsocial media, and if their name
is actually their name that Ijust pick up the phone and I
call them and I'll say, Hi, I'mHeidi, and I understand you're
upset about this situation. AndI wondered if we could have a
conversation about it. And Ilearned to do that during COVID,
when everyone was a keyboardwarrior, and they were very
brave, and they didn't mind iftheir information was correct or
(04:39):
not. They were so stressed outthat I think they would just
believe anything. And so itbecame my job to just be
upfront. And the one lady that Icalled, I was like, Hi, I'm
Heidi, and she started crying.
I'm so sorry. I didn't mean tosay all those things. I'm like,
It's okay, it's okay. Let's justtalk it through. And so we ended
up talking it through. She endedup being one of the moms that I
(05:00):
could rely upon. If I neededinformation to go out, I could
always text her and say, Hey, Ijust posted something. Will you
be sure your friends get that?
And using parents like that asthose key communicator resources
after you develop a relationshipwith them is helpful, but it's
changed in the way that we dothe work and the scrutiny used
(05:22):
to be based off of a newspaperarticle or a data point. Now the
scrutiny is based off ofwhatever someone has put out
there, whether it's true or not,and that's really hard,
especially because we have anobligation to always protect
student privacy, and a parentcan go on there and say just
about anything happened. I mayknow the truth, but I would
(05:43):
never share that truth, becauseI need to protect our students
privacy.
Sarah Williamson (05:48):
Can I just jump in real quick? I think that
is the exact definition ofhumanizing the role of the
superintendent. What you justshared. Those angry moms? I
mean, I've been an angry mombefore, and I can't, you know? I
mean, there's nothing scarierthan an angry mom. I always say
that, but truly, it's someaningful and makes such an
impact if you just if you reachout as a superintendent and
(06:10):
connect with those people,because we feel heard. If you're
angry, what you really want isto be heard, and that's all it
takes. So kudos to you for doingthat. That's incredible.
Chad Bolser (06:21):
I have so many things that I would like to
interject about Sarah beingangry, but I'm gonna go ahead
and move on to
Sarah Williamson (06:29):
so many stories.
Chad Bolser (06:30):
Most importantly, we want to hear from Heidi, not
stories about Sarah, but that isthat
Heidi Sipe (06:36):
I'll stay on later to hear him if you want.
Chad Bolser (06:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's absolutely. And it shouldbe noted that you did help me
change my identity, that I wastrying to fake you all out by
putting the wrong identity onthis zoom call. Okay, so anyway,
our question is, what has beenyour strategy for bringing
people together to see yourvision for the district, or to
collaboratively build a visionfor the district?
Heidi Sipe (07:01):
I learned a long time ago that people don't want
to come to another meeting.
They're really busy. They don'twant to do that, and I don't
blame them. And so we try tofocus all of our family outreach
events on opportunities forfamilies to make memories. So
one of my favorite things thatwe do is we have a someone
special dance, and then that islike on the concept of a daddy
(07:21):
daughter dance, but we want itto be more inclusive of just
bring whoever you want. And soafter homecoming, when the high
school kids have their bighomecoming dance, we leave up
all the decorations, and thenthe next day, there's a DJ and a
photo booth and all those sortsof things for parents to come
with their kids and have fun,and there's refreshments, and
(07:42):
it's just a fun thing. But I goas often as I can to events like
that, and I just walk around andI visit. And one year, we had a
bunch of donations of costumesthat didn't sell at Walmart from
Halloween the year before, andthey said, Will you take these?
And I was like, absolutely. Sothen I laid out all the costumes
in the band room. And asfamilies came in, I let them
(08:02):
pick out their costume. Andwhile they were picking it out,
I would say, hey, last year, weinvested really heavily in
educational assistance. Have youseen the difference in your
child's classroom, and have theytalked about the amount of help
they're getting at school? Canyou feel it? Does it matter to
you? And then we'd have thoseconversations. Then after they
leave, I jot down my littlenotes from the conversation. And
that's how I do parentalinvolvement. I try to be places.
(08:25):
I try to visit. I try to get toknow people. Last night, I was
at Dual Language night. It was afamily night, and we have
parents that have hadimmigration questions and so and
how, what happens with my childat school? And so I sat in the
back table with the translatorand one of our family liaisons,
and I was just there to answerparents questions. And so some
(08:45):
parents came over with questionsabout their kids data, and they
didn't understand how to read areport. Other parents came over
with, what happens if I shows upat the school, no matter what
the situation is, they knew howto find me. They knew where I'd
be, and we sorted it out. And Ithink just being as visible as
possible is important. That'salso the hardest thing of this
job, because if I'm at oneevent, I can only be at that one
(09:07):
event. But in schools, there'snot just one event ever. There's
constantly something elsehappening. So for every parent
that says I see Heidieverywhere, there's five more.
They say, we've never seen herall year. We don't even know who
that lady is. It's so hard. Andso then the other thing I try to
do is I post videos, and they'renot great. It's just me on a
(09:27):
zoom by myself, or me on a zoomwith Lizzie, our communications
coordinator, who will translatefor me, and we just record the
zoom and parents as they send inquestions. I collect them, and
then I answer those. Or ifthere's something important
going on, I answer that, and Ijust visit like this with no
one, and then I put thatrecording out there. And I think
(09:48):
that really helps families, atleast, know my face, know the
information from the horse'smouth, and it just helps build
relationships.
Sarah Williamson (10:00):
Yeah,
Chad Bolser (10:00):
I suspect you measure that somehow that
engagement level, can you tell,based upon an issue or a topic
or a time of year, how muchengagement either goes up or
down?
Heidi Sipe (10:12):
We have our YouTube views, and we use that to give
us an idea. I started thisduring COVID, yeah, and the way
that I started during COVID wasactually comical, because it was
during lockdown and we couldn'tgo anywhere. And so at that
time, my assistant would come tomy house, and we would sit
spaced apart on my fireplacehearth, and we would sit my
(10:36):
husband would film, and we wouldjust answer questions live on
Facebook. People would come onwith their questions, and we'd
just answer. And we had somehysterical things. My husband
dropped the camera one time, andwe had this blooper reel, and we
would just laugh and be real.
And I think that helped a lot.
We had a lot of familiesactually moved to our district
or transferred in during COVID,and I think it was because of
(11:00):
just chatting with peopleonline, we ended up, one night,
we had someone get on there thatwas a troll and ruined our
ability to ever do a FacebookLive again. But so that's when
we started doing the zoom thing.
And so with the Zoom piece, thatallowed us to still engage, not
quite in the way that I reallywas enjoying during that time,
but we could still do it and itstill mattered.
Sarah Williamson (11:23):
Yeah, that's powerful. I'm curious. It sounds
like you've had similarchallenges to other
superintendents across thecountry, but how do you think
your stress level and issuesyou're facing are representative
to those in your region, yourrural region, and also across
the state of Oregon andnationally?
Heidi Sipe (11:41):
I think that the stress level of the work is
incredible, and there's no sensetrying to deny it, but I view
this role as being the personwho's supposed to do that like
that's what I signed up for.
It's my job to absorb thatstress. It's my job to deflect,
to fight and to figure out whatmatters, and then I translate
(12:01):
that to my staff. So yesterday,for example, I sent them that,
hey, here's what went out tofamilies with the latest video
chat. Here's the additionalthings you should know as a
staff. Because as we're talkingabout federal budget freezes,
people want to know, how doesthis impact our budget? That's
not something the general publicneeds to know quite yet, but
it's something staff's worriedabout. So I send that out to
(12:22):
them, because it's my job totake the stress and then to try
to prevent it for them, that'swhat I should be doing. The way
that I can do that, I watercolorpaint all the time, like I try
to paint something every day.
I'm not a good artist. In fact,it's looking to see if I had one
here to show you. I'm a prettypitiful artist, but I love to do
(12:45):
it, and it is something thatswitches my brain off. It makes
me focus on something. It makesme try to get better at
something, when still not goodfor the record. But I make my
little art and I decompress andthen the rest of it. That's my
job. I'm supposed to deal withthe stress I deal with it. Those
are the rules.
Chad Bolser (13:04):
What are some creative ways you have been able
to use communications andstorytelling? You've kind of
given some examples of that toconnect with educators and
families and communitiesthroughout your career?
Heidi Sipe (13:17):
Throughout my career, the one thing that has
been really helpful to me is Ivery seldom travel alone for
speaking events. So when I'vebeen asked to speak at different
national events on school board,Superintendent relationships is
usually the topic I get asked tospeak on, I bring my board. And
so I'll say, don't pay me, but Iwould like to pay the travel
(13:38):
cost of my board instead. And sothey'll come, and it's really
important for that to happen,because I notice that oftentimes
school boards don't have theopportunity to see their
superintendents outside of thedistrict. They don't understand
the influence or the work thatthey're doing that's meaningful
in the district if they can'tsee it. And so that's important.
(14:00):
If I'm speaking throughout thestate, I try to bring a student
with me, and so I if I'm talkingabout keeping kids engaged. A
couple years ago, I took a staffmember who's with us now, who
was once a teen parent. She hadtwo students while she was in
high school, and she stillgraduated. Then we recruited her
to come be an ED assistant forus, and she had her third baby
(14:21):
during that time, and then nowshe's a teacher. She just
finished her admin credentials,and so I'm exceptionally proud
of her and the work that she hasdone. I wanted her to speak on
engagement and how we keep kidsthat are being challenged to
stay in school, in school. So Itook her and another young man
that was very disengaged, and Ijust had run into him, and I
(14:43):
said, How's your year going? Andhe's like, not, well, I hate
school. I said, Well, what makesschool fun for you? He goes,
nobody else likes cars. I go,there's lots of people that like
cars. And he goes, No, I don'tthink so. I want to have a car
club, but there's just nobody tohave a car club. I said, I'll
make you a deal if you go outand you recruit at least five.
Other kids to be in your carclub. Mister Sife and I'll pay
for all your T shirts for yourclub. And boy, the joke was on
(15:06):
me, because he got like, 40 somekids to be in this car club, and
it became a really big thing,and I was on the hook for a lot
of T shirts. That was a bigbill, but it was worth it,
because it gave him theopportunity to re engage. And so
those two went with me to talkto leaders about how to re
engage students. I think it'simportant to remember that we
(15:27):
represent voices in our role,but their voices directly matter
a lot too. So every July, when Igo to AASA and the advocacy
conference, I take one teacherand two students with me, and
when I'm talking to legislators,so are they, because I can only
relay so much of someone else'sstory, and I want to instead
(15:49):
provide them access to sharetheir own.
Sarah Williamson (15:51):
That is an amazing strategy. Heidi, I'm
also happy that you didn't haveto buy them a car and you only
had to buy T shirts. That wasthat's a great deal.
Heidi Sipe (15:59):
I did once accidentally buy a car at a
booster club auction. I thoughtI'd just start the bidding, and
I started and ended it. And
Sarah Williamson (16:06):
oh, wow.
Heidi Sipe (16:07):
Andy, one to explain to my husband. He's used to me
by now, but
Chad Bolser (16:11):
Can we ask? What kind of car?
Heidi Sipe (16:13):
Oh, it's hysterical.
It was like a 1980 somethingVolvo. It smoked. It was really
a piece of work. And so I gotthat stop smoke additive that
you could put in the gas tank,and I drove it to my brother and
said, Look, I got you a car. Hedrove it for us. It's fine.
Sarah Williamson (16:29):
That's funny.
What is your advice to otherdistrict leaders? I mean, that's
pretty darn good advice rightthere, bringing people who can
speak on your behalf, yourboard, students, educators, to
actually see what's happening ona national level. I think it's
easy to get siloed and thinkthat you're not doing great
work, when you can actually getout there and see, hey, actually
we're working with asuperintendent who's nationally
(16:50):
recognized. Probably makeseveryone feel good. But I'm
curious, what's your advice forother leaders who are struggling
to build that community andconnection?
Heidi Sipe (17:01):
Probably twofold. So I'll talk first, if it's okay
with you, about leadersconnecting with other leaders,
and then leaders connecting withthe broader community. Is that
okay?
So I think leaderswith other leaders. One of the
Sarah Williamson (17:11):
Absolutely.
things that I started, I don'teven know how long ago, probably
15 years ago, is I just made ita rule for myself that if I saw
a superintendent in the news forsomething ugly, I just wrote him
a card and I would just say,Hey, I saw the article. I don't
need to know what's going on. Ijust want you to know that I'm
(17:32):
cheering for you, and I'mcheering you for your success.
And if you ever need to vent,here's my cell number. Hope you
have a good day. And I probablysend 50 of those a year, even
now, and if they need me, theycall. I mean, they don't, they
don't, and it doesn't matter tome. What matters to me is that
somebody gave them a nudge andsaid, hey, just here for you.
(17:53):
And that's how I built a lot ofmy network is through the years,
different people have called, ordifferent people have said, you
know, who will help you withthat? Call, Heidi. And then I've
also started reaching out anddoing that same thing for
aspiring sups and things likethat. When I see somebody who's
on the rise, I walk around withpiles of note cards. They often
have my very poorly donewatercolor drawings on them,
(18:14):
because at some point you gottagive those away somehow. So I
will hand somebody a card andjust write it formally fast,
just to make sure, like, Hey, Isee you becoming a leader in
these meetings, and I'm proud ofyou, and I hope you continue.
And if you need help, let meknow. And I think it's important
to remember that to build anetwork, you have to be the
network too, and it can't justbe a one way relationship. And
(18:35):
for people who don't know how tostart, just do that. And then
that evolved over the years towhere I would host, and I still
do these leadership dinners, andthere are no host deal. I just
say, hey, the following nights,I'm going to be at dinner at
this place you want to visit,show up, and I invite a lot of
people, and a lot of people showup, and we connect. And I think
that those types ofopportunities are just really
(18:55):
important, and without those,it's a lonely gig, and I think
it's important to build thoseconnections and trust with the
broader community. You have toadmit when you're wrong. I will
see people do so much work tobuild a relationship, and they
destroy it by doing the talk ofjustifying a bad decision, or
(19:17):
they'll stand by a situationbeyond when it makes sense, and
so I try to be really ahead ofconversations and when we've
Chad Bolser (19:26):
We talked throughout this season to
made a mistake, or when a staffmember has done something that
is absolutely not okay, I justsay that this does not meet our
expectations, and this is not areflection of our broader
district as a whole. I am sorrythat this happened, and this is
our plan for what we're going todo to make this right, and that
helps. And I don't know whypeople are afraid to just own
it. I think they're afraid oflawsuits, or they're afraid of
(19:48):
whatever those people are goingto sue you, no matter what.
Okay, do the right thing, andit's going to work out. It might
not work out the way you want.
It's going to work out somehowyou got a better chance at
working out in a positive way,if you just tell the truth, be
honest and be humble.
superintendents, and we havebecome huge fans of them as we
(20:09):
listen to you. Heidi, it's easyto understand why, but talk to
us about why you think it isimportant for the community to
see you as a real person who'snavigating complex challenges to
provide the best possibleeducation for our K 12 students.
Heidi Sipe (20:28):
Our families are trusting us with their kids. No
person has greater love foranything than their child, and
it's really important toremember how treasured these
little people are that we havein our schools, and I knew I was
making headway in our community.
The first time a mom handed meher baby at the basketball game
and said, I know you lovebabies. I just had this one, and
(20:50):
I was so excited, because I am ababy person, but getting to be
trusted with someone's baby is areally big deal. And so a couple
weeks ago, one of our teen momsbrought me her baby, and I was
so happy to hold that little guyand snuggle on him. And I think
that those pieces are justcrucial, because we can't ever
forget that we are given thisincredible opportunity, but also
(21:15):
responsibility to be a partnerin raising the next generation
of leaders, and if we don't ownthat and recognize the
significance of it, we'refailing our communities. And no
one's going to trust someone tobe a partner in raising their
kid unless they know that personand they know what they stand
for.
Sarah Williamson (21:35):
I'm getting a little teary listening to that's
really powerful. Heidi, how canwe as supporters of K 12
education, as parents, ascommunity members, as peers. How
can we better supportsuperintendents in this role?
Heidi Sipe (21:50):
I think superintendents need people to
say the things that they can'tsay. So when I can come out and
say, We messed up or this didn'tmeet our standards, we need
other people to say, hey, thingshappen in all industries that
don't go the way you want. Andschools are not the only place
(22:14):
where sometimes outcomes arewhere we want them to be.
Schools are not the only placewhere natural disasters happen,
and somebody makes the wrongsnow day decision, which, by the
way, I did today. So thosepieces are helpful, and you need
someone who's willing to say,this happens, and I stand behind
this person when things aretough and something as simple as
(22:38):
a snow day thing. A few yearsago, we just had a whole series
of bad, bad weather, and I wasmaking the best calls I could.
And honestly, on the day, Iwould cancel school by 10am it
was sunny and beautiful, and thenext day we'd have school and
we'd have Snowmageddon all day.
And I finally just did one of myZoom videos, and I walked them
through what I do to make thedecision, and when they realized
(23:02):
it's me out there driving at
4 (23:05):
30 in the morning and when it's me hitting all the
neighborhood routes and doing mybest, and when they understood
the criteria I was following.
Now it's really funny, becausewhen people are critical about
the decisions I make on thesnow, like today was really a
bad one. At 4:30 this morning,we had tiny little bits of snow
in the forecast positions. Stopin an hour. By 7am I thought,
oh, goodness, this can be a badday, because the roads were bad
(23:26):
today. We probably should have
cancelled school today, but (23:29):
30 in the morning, that wasn't the
decision, and that's when I haveto make that. And so, oddly
enough, parents were out theresaying, re sharing the video
Like, hey everybody. She did thebest she could today. You need
those people. That's how wesupport superintendents, because
we're making as many decisionsin a day, or we are making many
(23:51):
decisions in a day, and wearen't going to get everyone
correct. But if people can trustthe intentions with which we
made it, trust the data pointsthat we're using to make it,
then they have greaterunderstanding. So it's our job
to share those intentions, showthose intentions, model those
intentions, share the data, andthen hopefully it becomes their
job to back us up.
Chad Bolser (24:11):
Well this has been super cool, talking with you and
having this conversation, andbesides coming and finding you
for a cup of coffee at 4 (24:17):
30 in the morning on a snowy day,
where can our listeners learnmore about you and connect with
you directly.
Heidi Sipe (24:25):
So the easiest way to interact is through LinkedIn.
Now I used to do a variety ofother platforms, but truly, for
most professional conversations,I post on LinkedIn, you probably
won't see my face very often onmy LinkedIn. I'm not one of the
superintendents that doesselfies. I'm one of the super
intense post pictures of what'shappening. I don't like to be in
front of the camera, but I'malways happy to share what's
(24:48):
happening with our kids, and Ispend a lot of time doing that
on LinkedIn or just sharingstories. And I really enjoy
communicating with others onthat.
Sarah Williamson (24:57):
This has been so amazing. Thank you Heidi. It
was great to meet you, and Ilook forward to staying in
touch.
Heidi Sipe (25:02):
Thanks. Thanks for the opportunity. Hope you guys
both have a great day.
Chad Bolser (25:05):
Thanks Heidi.
Heidi Sipe (25:06):
Take care.
Chad Bolser (25:07):
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 (25:18):
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 a
particularly unique perspectivein K 12 thought leadership,
humanizing the role of thesuperintendent.
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. Today on Build Momentum forEducation. We are so fortunate
to have Heidi Sipe,Superintendent at the Umatilla
School District in Oregonjoining us. Welcome, Heidi,
Heidi Sipe (01:22):
Thank you for having me.
Sarah Williamson (01:23):
Yes. First, would you mind kicking it off by
sharing what you found to be themost rewarding aspects of
serving as a superintendent?
Heidi Sipe (01:33):
My favorite thing is grand students. So I've been in
this district for 25 years. I'vebeen the superintendent for 18
and so I get to see generationsof kids, and nothing makes me
happier than seeing grandstudents show up as kinder. And
my oldest grand student isactually going to be a senior
this next year, and that'sbittersweet for me, but I'm
(01:53):
really proud of her and herparents.
Chad Bolser (01:55):
That's really cool.
And we've enjoyed having theseconversations with
superintendents like you, and tohear them talk about the
relationships that they build issuper, super awesome. So but we
asked this question at 2023RAND, study found that
superintendents have one of themost stressful jobs in America.
And do you agree with thesefindings, and how have you been
(02:16):
able to cope with the stress ofthis challenging role throughout
your career.
Heidi Sipe (02:21):
So yes, it is absolutely an incredibly
stressful job. That's also oneof my favorite things about this
work. I always call this my newjob no matter how many years
I've been doing it, becauseevery year is so different. I
mean, it's just not the same jobyear to year. Everything's in
flux, and I love that part ofit, but it's also incredibly
stressful, and so the biggestthing that I do to manage the
(02:45):
stress professionally is I relyheavily on colleagues, my
original mentors, from when Iwas very first starting off in
my career. I still connect withthem as often as I possibly can.
I still learn from them. Andthrough the years, I've helped a
variety of people when they'restarting in their career, but I
rely upon them too, and Ibelieve that all mentorship is
(03:07):
really a two way conversation,and we all need each other as
mentors. I don't have mentees. Ihave mentors who mentor me, and
I try to mentor them.
Sarah Williamson (03:15):
Yes, we definitely have heard that from
Oregon superintendents andleaders throughout the state
that you are looked to as aleader and a mentor. So thank
you for that. I'm also curious,how do you think the scrutiny of
the role of the superintendenthas changed over the past few
years?
Heidi Sipe (03:31):
Social media has changed the game entirely. And
when I first started as asuperintendent, people would
come to the office when they hadconcerns, and I could form a cup
of coffee and we could sit andhave a conversation, and even if
they were angry, I couldunderstand why. I could take the
time to listen and reallyunderstand where their anger was
coming from, and use that tolearn how we could do better to
(03:54):
meet their needs and meet theirstudents needs in a more
productive and positive way forthem. And I valued those.
Through the years, I've had lessand less of those types of
conversations and more socialmedia battles that I won't get
in the middle of, but I will seethem, where people will send me
screenshots of them. And so Ihave a policy if I see someone
(04:15):
that is really going off onsocial media, and if their name
is actually their name that Ijust pick up the phone and I
call them and I'll say, Hi, I'mHeidi, and I understand you're
upset about this situation. AndI wondered if we could have a
conversation about it. And Ilearned to do that during COVID,
when everyone was a keyboardwarrior, and they were very
brave, and they didn't mind iftheir information was correct or
(04:39):
not. They were so stressed outthat I think they would just
believe anything. And so itbecame my job to just be
upfront. And the one lady that Icalled, I was like, Hi, I'm
Heidi, and she started crying.
I'm so sorry. I didn't mean tosay all those things. I'm like,
It's okay, it's okay. Let's justtalk it through. And so we ended
up talking it through. She endedup being one of the moms that I
(05:00):
could rely upon. If I neededinformation to go out, I could
always text her and say, Hey, Ijust posted something. Will you
be sure your friends get that?
And using parents like that asthose key communicator resources
after you develop a relationshipwith them is helpful, but it's
changed in the way that we dothe work and the scrutiny used
(05:22):
to be based off of a newspaperarticle or a data point. Now the
scrutiny is based off ofwhatever someone has put out
there, whether it's true or not,and that's really hard,
especially because we have anobligation to always protect
student privacy, and a parentcan go on there and say just
about anything happened. I mayknow the truth, but I would
(05:43):
never share that truth, becauseI need to protect our students
privacy.
Sarah Williamson (05:48):
Can I just jump in real quick? I think that
is the exact definition ofhumanizing the role of the
superintendent. What you justshared. Those angry moms? I
mean, I've been an angry mombefore, and I can't, you know? I
mean, there's nothing scarierthan an angry mom. I always say
that, but truly, it's someaningful and makes such an
impact if you just if you reachout as a superintendent and
(06:10):
connect with those people,because we feel heard. If you're
angry, what you really want isto be heard, and that's all it
takes. So kudos to you for doingthat. That's incredible.
Chad Bolser (06:21):
I have so many things that I would like to
interject about Sarah beingangry, but I'm gonna go ahead
and move on to
Sarah Williamson (06:29):
so many stories.
Chad Bolser (06:30):
Most importantly, we want to hear from Heidi, not
stories about Sarah, but that isthat
Heidi Sipe (06:36):
I'll stay on later to hear him if you want.
Chad Bolser (06:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's absolutely. And it shouldbe noted that you did help me
change my identity, that I wastrying to fake you all out by
putting the wrong identity onthis zoom call. Okay, so anyway,
our question is, what has beenyour strategy for bringing
people together to see yourvision for the district, or to
collaboratively build a visionfor the district?
Heidi Sipe (07:01):
I learned a long time ago that people don't want
to come to another meeting.
They're really busy. They don'twant to do that, and I don't
blame them. And so we try tofocus all of our family outreach
events on opportunities forfamilies to make memories. So
one of my favorite things thatwe do is we have a someone
special dance, and then that islike on the concept of a daddy
(07:21):
daughter dance, but we want itto be more inclusive of just
bring whoever you want. And soafter homecoming, when the high
school kids have their bighomecoming dance, we leave up
all the decorations, and thenthe next day, there's a DJ and a
photo booth and all those sortsof things for parents to come
with their kids and have fun,and there's refreshments, and
(07:42):
it's just a fun thing. But I goas often as I can to events like
that, and I just walk around andI visit. And one year, we had a
bunch of donations of costumesthat didn't sell at Walmart from
Halloween the year before, andthey said, Will you take these?
And I was like, absolutely. Sothen I laid out all the costumes
in the band room. And asfamilies came in, I let them
(08:02):
pick out their costume. Andwhile they were picking it out,
I would say, hey, last year, weinvested really heavily in
educational assistance. Have youseen the difference in your
child's classroom, and have theytalked about the amount of help
they're getting at school? Canyou feel it? Does it matter to
you? And then we'd have thoseconversations. Then after they
leave, I jot down my littlenotes from the conversation. And
that's how I do parentalinvolvement. I try to be places.
(08:25):
I try to visit. I try to get toknow people. Last night, I was
at Dual Language night. It was afamily night, and we have
parents that have hadimmigration questions and so and
how, what happens with my childat school? And so I sat in the
back table with the translatorand one of our family liaisons,
and I was just there to answerparents questions. And so some
(08:45):
parents came over with questionsabout their kids data, and they
didn't understand how to read areport. Other parents came over
with, what happens if I shows upat the school, no matter what
the situation is, they knew howto find me. They knew where I'd
be, and we sorted it out. And Ithink just being as visible as
possible is important. That'salso the hardest thing of this
job, because if I'm at oneevent, I can only be at that one
(09:07):
event. But in schools, there'snot just one event ever. There's
constantly something elsehappening. So for every parent
that says I see Heidieverywhere, there's five more.
They say, we've never seen herall year. We don't even know who
that lady is. It's so hard. Andso then the other thing I try to
do is I post videos, and they'renot great. It's just me on a
(09:27):
zoom by myself, or me on a zoomwith Lizzie, our communications
coordinator, who will translatefor me, and we just record the
zoom and parents as they send inquestions. I collect them, and
then I answer those. Or ifthere's something important
going on, I answer that, and Ijust visit like this with no
one, and then I put thatrecording out there. And I think
(09:48):
that really helps families, atleast, know my face, know the
information from the horse'smouth, and it just helps build
relationships.
Sarah Williamson (10:00):
Yeah,
Chad Bolser (10:00):
I suspect you measure that somehow that
engagement level, can you tell,based upon an issue or a topic
or a time of year, how muchengagement either goes up or
down?
Heidi Sipe (10:12):
We have our YouTube views, and we use that to give
us an idea. I started thisduring COVID, yeah, and the way
that I started during COVID wasactually comical, because it was
during lockdown and we couldn'tgo anywhere. And so at that
time, my assistant would come tomy house, and we would sit
spaced apart on my fireplacehearth, and we would sit my
(10:36):
husband would film, and we wouldjust answer questions live on
Facebook. People would come onwith their questions, and we'd
just answer. And we had somehysterical things. My husband
dropped the camera one time, andwe had this blooper reel, and we
would just laugh and be real.
And I think that helped a lot.
We had a lot of familiesactually moved to our district
or transferred in during COVID,and I think it was because of
(11:00):
just chatting with peopleonline, we ended up, one night,
we had someone get on there thatwas a troll and ruined our
ability to ever do a FacebookLive again. But so that's when
we started doing the zoom thing.
And so with the Zoom piece, thatallowed us to still engage, not
quite in the way that I reallywas enjoying during that time,
but we could still do it and itstill mattered.
Sarah Williamson (11:23):
Yeah, that's powerful. I'm curious. It sounds
like you've had similarchallenges to other
superintendents across thecountry, but how do you think
your stress level and issuesyou're facing are representative
to those in your region, yourrural region, and also across
the state of Oregon andnationally?
Heidi Sipe (11:41):
I think that the stress level of the work is
incredible, and there's no sensetrying to deny it, but I view
this role as being the personwho's supposed to do that like
that's what I signed up for.
It's my job to absorb thatstress. It's my job to deflect,
to fight and to figure out whatmatters, and then I translate
(12:01):
that to my staff. So yesterday,for example, I sent them that,
hey, here's what went out tofamilies with the latest video
chat. Here's the additionalthings you should know as a
staff. Because as we're talkingabout federal budget freezes,
people want to know, how doesthis impact our budget? That's
not something the general publicneeds to know quite yet, but
it's something staff's worriedabout. So I send that out to
(12:22):
them, because it's my job totake the stress and then to try
to prevent it for them, that'swhat I should be doing. The way
that I can do that, I watercolorpaint all the time, like I try
to paint something every day.
I'm not a good artist. In fact,it's looking to see if I had one
here to show you. I'm a prettypitiful artist, but I love to do
(12:45):
it, and it is something thatswitches my brain off. It makes
me focus on something. It makesme try to get better at
something, when still not goodfor the record. But I make my
little art and I decompress andthen the rest of it. That's my
job. I'm supposed to deal withthe stress I deal with it. Those
are the rules.
Chad Bolser (13:04):
What are some creative ways you have been able
to use communications andstorytelling? You've kind of
given some examples of that toconnect with educators and
families and communitiesthroughout your career?
Heidi Sipe (13:17):
Throughout my career, the one thing that has
been really helpful to me is Ivery seldom travel alone for
speaking events. So when I'vebeen asked to speak at different
national events on school board,Superintendent relationships is
usually the topic I get asked tospeak on, I bring my board. And
so I'll say, don't pay me, but Iwould like to pay the travel
(13:38):
cost of my board instead. And sothey'll come, and it's really
important for that to happen,because I notice that oftentimes
school boards don't have theopportunity to see their
superintendents outside of thedistrict. They don't understand
the influence or the work thatthey're doing that's meaningful
in the district if they can'tsee it. And so that's important.
(14:00):
If I'm speaking throughout thestate, I try to bring a student
with me, and so I if I'm talkingabout keeping kids engaged. A
couple years ago, I took a staffmember who's with us now, who
was once a teen parent. She hadtwo students while she was in
high school, and she stillgraduated. Then we recruited her
to come be an ED assistant forus, and she had her third baby
(14:21):
during that time, and then nowshe's a teacher. She just
finished her admin credentials,and so I'm exceptionally proud
of her and the work that she hasdone. I wanted her to speak on
engagement and how we keep kidsthat are being challenged to
stay in school, in school. So Itook her and another young man
that was very disengaged, and Ijust had run into him, and I
(14:43):
said, How's your year going? Andhe's like, not, well, I hate
school. I said, Well, what makesschool fun for you? He goes,
nobody else likes cars. I go,there's lots of people that like
cars. And he goes, No, I don'tthink so. I want to have a car
club, but there's just nobody tohave a car club. I said, I'll
make you a deal if you go outand you recruit at least five.
Other kids to be in your carclub. Mister Sife and I'll pay
for all your T shirts for yourclub. And boy, the joke was on
(15:06):
me, because he got like, 40 somekids to be in this car club, and
it became a really big thing,and I was on the hook for a lot
of T shirts. That was a bigbill, but it was worth it,
because it gave him theopportunity to re engage. And so
those two went with me to talkto leaders about how to re
engage students. I think it'simportant to remember that we
(15:27):
represent voices in our role,but their voices directly matter
a lot too. So every July, when Igo to AASA and the advocacy
conference, I take one teacherand two students with me, and
when I'm talking to legislators,so are they, because I can only
relay so much of someone else'sstory, and I want to instead
(15:49):
provide them access to sharetheir own.
Sarah Williamson (15:51):
That is an amazing strategy. Heidi, I'm
also happy that you didn't haveto buy them a car and you only
had to buy T shirts. That wasthat's a great deal.
Heidi Sipe (15:59):
I did once accidentally buy a car at a
booster club auction. I thoughtI'd just start the bidding, and
I started and ended it. And
Sarah Williamson (16:06):
oh, wow.
Heidi Sipe (16:07):
Andy, one to explain to my husband. He's used to me
by now, but
Chad Bolser (16:11):
Can we ask? What kind of car?
Heidi Sipe (16:13):
Oh, it's hysterical.
It was like a 1980 somethingVolvo. It smoked. It was really
a piece of work. And so I gotthat stop smoke additive that
you could put in the gas tank,and I drove it to my brother and
said, Look, I got you a car. Hedrove it for us. It's fine.
Sarah Williamson (16:29):
That's funny.
What is your advice to otherdistrict leaders? I mean, that's
pretty darn good advice rightthere, bringing people who can
speak on your behalf, yourboard, students, educators, to
actually see what's happening ona national level. I think it's
easy to get siloed and thinkthat you're not doing great
work, when you can actually getout there and see, hey, actually
we're working with asuperintendent who's nationally
(16:50):
recognized. Probably makeseveryone feel good. But I'm
curious, what's your advice forother leaders who are struggling
to build that community andconnection?
Heidi Sipe (17:01):
Probably twofold. So I'll talk first, if it's okay
with you, about leadersconnecting with other leaders,
and then leaders connecting withthe broader community. Is that
okay?
So I think leaderswith other leaders. One of the
Sarah Williamson (17:11):
Absolutely.
things that I started, I don'teven know how long ago, probably
15 years ago, is I just made ita rule for myself that if I saw
a superintendent in the news forsomething ugly, I just wrote him
a card and I would just say,Hey, I saw the article. I don't
need to know what's going on. Ijust want you to know that I'm
(17:32):
cheering for you, and I'mcheering you for your success.
And if you ever need to vent,here's my cell number. Hope you
have a good day. And I probablysend 50 of those a year, even
now, and if they need me, theycall. I mean, they don't, they
don't, and it doesn't matter tome. What matters to me is that
somebody gave them a nudge andsaid, hey, just here for you.
(17:53):
And that's how I built a lot ofmy network is through the years,
different people have called, ordifferent people have said, you
know, who will help you withthat? Call, Heidi. And then I've
also started reaching out anddoing that same thing for
aspiring sups and things likethat. When I see somebody who's
on the rise, I walk around withpiles of note cards. They often
have my very poorly donewatercolor drawings on them,
(18:14):
because at some point you gottagive those away somehow. So I
will hand somebody a card andjust write it formally fast,
just to make sure, like, Hey, Isee you becoming a leader in
these meetings, and I'm proud ofyou, and I hope you continue.
And if you need help, let meknow. And I think it's important
to remember that to build anetwork, you have to be the
network too, and it can't justbe a one way relationship. And
(18:35):
for people who don't know how tostart, just do that. And then
that evolved over the years towhere I would host, and I still
do these leadership dinners, andthere are no host deal. I just
say, hey, the following nights,I'm going to be at dinner at
this place you want to visit,show up, and I invite a lot of
people, and a lot of people showup, and we connect. And I think
that those types ofopportunities are just really
(18:55):
important, and without those,it's a lonely gig, and I think
it's important to build thoseconnections and trust with the
broader community. You have toadmit when you're wrong. I will
see people do so much work tobuild a relationship, and they
destroy it by doing the talk ofjustifying a bad decision, or
(19:17):
they'll stand by a situationbeyond when it makes sense, and
so I try to be really ahead ofconversations and when we've
Chad Bolser (19:26):
We talked throughout this season to
made a mistake, or when a staffmember has done something that
is absolutely not okay, I justsay that this does not meet our
expectations, and this is not areflection of our broader
district as a whole. I am sorrythat this happened, and this is
our plan for what we're going todo to make this right, and that
helps. And I don't know whypeople are afraid to just own
it. I think they're afraid oflawsuits, or they're afraid of
(19:48):
whatever those people are goingto sue you, no matter what.
Okay, do the right thing, andit's going to work out. It might
not work out the way you want.
It's going to work out somehowyou got a better chance at
working out in a positive way,if you just tell the truth, be
honest and be humble.
superintendents, and we havebecome huge fans of them as we
(20:09):
listen to you. Heidi, it's easyto understand why, but talk to
us about why you think it isimportant for the community to
see you as a real person who'snavigating complex challenges to
provide the best possibleeducation for our K 12 students.
Heidi Sipe (20:28):
Our families are trusting us with their kids. No
person has greater love foranything than their child, and
it's really important toremember how treasured these
little people are that we havein our schools, and I knew I was
making headway in our community.
The first time a mom handed meher baby at the basketball game
and said, I know you lovebabies. I just had this one, and
(20:50):
I was so excited, because I am ababy person, but getting to be
trusted with someone's baby is areally big deal. And so a couple
weeks ago, one of our teen momsbrought me her baby, and I was
so happy to hold that little guyand snuggle on him. And I think
that those pieces are justcrucial, because we can't ever
forget that we are given thisincredible opportunity, but also
(21:15):
responsibility to be a partnerin raising the next generation
of leaders, and if we don't ownthat and recognize the
significance of it, we'refailing our communities. And no
one's going to trust someone tobe a partner in raising their
kid unless they know that personand they know what they stand
for.
Sarah Williamson (21:35):
I'm getting a little teary listening to that's
really powerful. Heidi, how canwe as supporters of K 12
education, as parents, ascommunity members, as peers. How
can we better supportsuperintendents in this role?
Heidi Sipe (21:50):
I think superintendents need people to
say the things that they can'tsay. So when I can come out and
say, We messed up or this didn'tmeet our standards, we need
other people to say, hey, thingshappen in all industries that
don't go the way you want. Andschools are not the only place
(22:14):
where sometimes outcomes arewhere we want them to be.
Schools are not the only placewhere natural disasters happen,
and somebody makes the wrongsnow day decision, which, by the
way, I did today. So thosepieces are helpful, and you need
someone who's willing to say,this happens, and I stand behind
this person when things aretough and something as simple as
(22:38):
a snow day thing. A few yearsago, we just had a whole series
of bad, bad weather, and I wasmaking the best calls I could.
And honestly, on the day, Iwould cancel school by 10am it
was sunny and beautiful, and thenext day we'd have school and
we'd have Snowmageddon all day.
And I finally just did one of myZoom videos, and I walked them
through what I do to make thedecision, and when they realized
(23:02):
it's me out there driving at
4 (23:05):
30 in the morning and when it's me hitting all the
neighborhood routes and doing mybest, and when they understood
the criteria I was following.
Now it's really funny, becausewhen people are critical about
the decisions I make on thesnow, like today was really a
bad one. At 4:30 this morning,we had tiny little bits of snow
in the forecast positions. Stopin an hour. By 7am I thought,
oh, goodness, this can be a badday, because the roads were bad
(23:26):
today. We probably should have
cancelled school today, but (23:29):
30 in the morning, that wasn't the
decision, and that's when I haveto make that. And so, oddly
enough, parents were out theresaying, re sharing the video
Like, hey everybody. She did thebest she could today. You need
those people. That's how wesupport superintendents, because
we're making as many decisionsin a day, or we are making many
(23:51):
decisions in a day, and wearen't going to get everyone
correct. But if people can trustthe intentions with which we
made it, trust the data pointsthat we're using to make it,
then they have greaterunderstanding. So it's our job
to share those intentions, showthose intentions, model those
intentions, share the data, andthen hopefully it becomes their
job to back us up.
Chad Bolser (24:11):
Well this has been super cool, talking with you and
having this conversation, andbesides coming and finding you
for a cup of coffee at 4 (24:17):
30 in the morning on a snowy day,
where can our listeners learnmore about you and connect with
you directly.
Heidi Sipe (24:25):
So the easiest way to interact is through LinkedIn.
Now I used to do a variety ofother platforms, but truly, for
most professional conversations,I post on LinkedIn, you probably
won't see my face very often onmy LinkedIn. I'm not one of the
superintendents that doesselfies. I'm one of the super
intense post pictures of what'shappening. I don't like to be in
front of the camera, but I'malways happy to share what's
(24:48):
happening with our kids, and Ispend a lot of time doing that
on LinkedIn or just sharingstories. And I really enjoy
communicating with others onthat.
Sarah Williamson (24:57):
This has been so amazing. Thank you Heidi. It
was great to meet you, and Ilook forward to staying in
touch.
Heidi Sipe (25:02):
Thanks. Thanks for the opportunity. Hope you guys
both have a great day.
Chad Bolser (25:05):
Thanks Heidi.
Heidi Sipe (25:06):
Take care.
Chad Bolser (25:07):
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 (25:18):
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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