What if the strongest leadership move is to listen first, decide second, and never micromanage? That’s the tought line of our conversation with Principal Shannon Seale, who went from high school social studies to leading a pre-K–2 campus, without losing her sense of humor, her humility, or her focus on what matters most.
We explore the origin of Shannon’s calling to teach, how watching weak leadership shaped her convictions, and why avoiding conflict silently breaks cultures. She shares the two lenses that guide every decision, safety and instruction, and the practical systems that keep her promises real: time-blocked walkthroughs, alarms, and a calendar that catches everything from meetings to lunch detentions. We dig into the jump from high school to elementary, the new ways she learned to speak with first-time school parents, and how she balances autonomy with support so teachers feel trusted and students get consistent, high-quality instruction.
Shannon also opens up about building a leadership team that tells her when an idea is bad, treating school like a team sport where every role matters, and using TikTok and Instagram to learn from educators nationwide while humanizing the principalship. We talk narrative control, positive storytelling, and the simple truth that if you don’t tell your school’s story, someone else will. Finally, she looks ahead to deepening her impact in curriculum and instruction, with doctoral study on the horizon, while staying rooted in the campus work she “completely loves, even when it’s hard.”
If this conversation gave you a useful nudge, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review. Tell us: what’s one leadership habit you’ll change this week?
Connect with Shannon Seale and check out her Tik Tok Lives:
email: shanny.seale@gmail.com
Tik Tok: @mrs.seales
Instagram: @mrs.seales
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Principal JL (00:58):
Fun story everybody.
The first time I came acrosstoday's guest is Shannon Seale.
It wasn't through a conferenceor a leadership network.
It was through the TikTok.
Oh yes, TikTok.
We have been friends on TikTokfor a while, and then I stumbled
across one of her posts whereshe was pondering which college
(01:19):
football team was gonna dictateher mood for the next four
months.
And I just started rolling withlaughter.
From there I started followingher live TikToks, and I quickly
realized this is someone thatbrings authenticity, energy, and
real talk to the work ofeducational leaders everywhere.
So I reached out to her and Isaid, I've gotta have you on the
(01:42):
show.
And here we are.
Now a little bit about Shannon.
She's starting her 21st year ineducation, a journey that spans
from teaching high schoolsocial studies and graded AP
exams to becoming the principalof Odom Elementary School.
She's got a Bachelor of Arts inPolitical Science from Baylor
University and a Masters ofEducation from Sam Houston
(02:06):
State.
She loves music, ministry, andmaking a difference in her
community.
You're gonna love herperspective on leadership.
Now let's get to theconversation with Shannon Seal.
Welcome back, everybody, foranother episode of the
(02:31):
Educational Leadership Podcast.
Hope you guys are having agreat day out there.
I am so excited today to bringin Shannon Seale.
I've been watching her onTikTok.
And so, you know, I'm bringingher on the show.
I'd like to learn more abouther and kind of what got her
into the leadership role.
So, Shannon, welcome to theshow.
Shannon Seale (02:51):
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Principal JL (02:53):
All right, Shannon.
I'm gonna go ahead and startyou off with the same question I
ask everybody else on thisshow.
What inspires you to become aneducator?
Shannon Seale (03:06):
So I always kind of wanted to be a teacher when I
was growing up.
And I always laughed that thatmight have been partially
because I'm kind of bossy andlike to tell people what to do.
But I as a kid growing up, Ialways asked my teachers if I
could have like the extraworksheets that they had left
over.
And when my friends would comeover, I'm surprised I had any
friends because I always madethem play school with me.
And my mom was a teacher, she'sa dental hygienist, and then
(03:30):
she went into teaching dentalhygiene.
And so that was always justkind of, you know, something
that was in the forefront of mymind.
When I went to Baylor, I did mybachelor's degree in political
science, and that was not theroute I thought I was going to
take teaching, but my originalplan didn't really pan out.
And not to say that this wasjust like a backup plan, but I
(03:50):
think it's what I was supposedto do all along.
I think that's why the originalplan didn't work out.
But I knew I wanted to teachhigh school and government.
I had a horrible experiencewith my high school government
teacher, and I knew it was soimportant.
And when I was in college andwith all these crazy things
happening in the world, and kindof at the same time that I was
taking these political scienceclasses for the first time, and
(04:11):
I was like, this could be reallyinteresting and it's very
important.
So it inspired me to do thatparticularly.
And I love kids, I love workingwith teenagers.
I worked at a youth camp forseveral years, and my husband
and I were in youth ministry atour church for the last 15.
So we just love helping kids.
Principal JL (04:30):
Awesome.
It sounds like that's kind oflike a natural fit, right?
So all the past experiences andkind of led into that.
And, you know, I didn't grow upwith educators in my family,
but my kids have, and I have onethat is in education now.
So it's kind of neat to see,you know, how being in education
inspired the next generation aswell.
(04:51):
So awesome.
Now you're in high school,you're teaching uh social
studies.
What are some experiences youhave as a teacher that helped
you with the leadership role?
What are some leadership rolesas a teacher that help you kind
of formulate, you know, theleadership that you have today?
Shannon Seale (05:13):
My a lot of the leadership kind of experience
that I have didn't necessarilycome as a teacher, but I had
several other kind ofexperiences that were put me in
leadership positions.
I was our, what do you call it,our department chair at the
last high school where I taught.
And I did have opportunity atthe high school before that to
do some curriculum writing.
So I was able to kind of getinto some of those things.
(05:34):
But a lot of the experiences Ihad there, I think really helped
kind of shape what I do and whoI am as a leader.
I I think one of the biggestthings I learned was the
importance of diversity.
And mostly when we talk aboutthat, we think about racial, but
I mean diversity of opinion andperspective and thought and
experience and all of that, andhow much of that plays into the
(05:56):
decisions that you make and thecounsel that you get and all the
things that you do.
I feel like I've seen a lot ofbad leaders, and that kind of
inspired me to do thingsdifferently, you know, take some
of the experiences that I'vehad and try to do better, be
better.
Principal JL (06:12):
So yeah, would you say, like watching those
leaders that you've kind ofwatched that you would say,
yeah, may not be the bestexample.
Uh, what are some things thatyou learn from to say, hey,
maybe not do that?
Shannon Seale (06:26):
One of the things is avoiding conflict.
So you can't avoid conflicts.
And I love that analogy that,you know, if you keep sleeping
things under the rug, eventuallysomeone will trip over it.
So you have to, you can't avoidconflict.
And especially in our job,there's you have to, you know,
confront teachers sometimes andyou know, parents, and there's
so many different angles ofthings that are, you know, going
(06:48):
to come out.
You can't just ignore theproblems.
So that's been a big thing.
And another one is you don'twant your people to hear from
you just whenever it's bad.
You know, you have to make goodconnections too.
And you know, I don't ever wantmy teachers to say, like, oh,
she's here.
What is she?
You know, I must, I must havedone something wrong.
You know, I want them to think,you know, oh, she's coming in
to say hi and tell me goodmorning and, you know, um, see
(07:09):
how things are going.
So mostly, you know, onlymaking contact when it's bad and
avoiding conflict.
Those are two big things that Isaw that I wanted to make sure
I did differently.
Principal JL (07:19):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I know I had a a couple ofexperiences, not to say that my
principals at the time wereterrible people.
They're great people, but therewas my first experience as a
teacher.
The only time I really heardfrom my principal was there was
a problem and they wanted tocome talk to me about it.
So I really enjoy that you wantto connect with people, not
(07:40):
just, hey, I got to do the hardstuff, but I want to connect
with you in the good times andthe good things as well.
And I think that's reallyimportant uh for our staff and
our teachers to see us in thosedifferent elements, not just
when we have to do the hardstuff and have the tough
conversations, but to have thethe great conversations and the
(08:02):
joy of the job.
So I really appreciate yousharing that with us today.
Shannon Seale (08:07):
So the other, you know, sorry, the other thing
that I just thought of somethingelse.
The other thing that has reallykind of been a huge thing is
micromanaging.
I despise being micromanaged.
So I always tell my teachers,like, look, this is the end
picture of what we want and youknow how you decide best to get
there as long as it's legal andmoral and not going to end this
(08:27):
up on Facebook.
And, you know, as long as I candefend what you're doing, then
let's try it, you know.
But at the same time, you know,some teachers need a lot more
and want a lot more handholding.
So trying to kind of find thatbalance between, you know, who
needs what and who who wants youto lead them a certain way.
But I I try with everything Ican to not be a micromanager.
This is the in picture, and youhelp me decide how we're gonna
(08:51):
get there by doing what you knowhow to do.
Principal JL (08:53):
Yeah, I I love that just because, you know, as
educational leaders, we, youknow, we have a lot of different
teachers at a lot of differentlevels.
Like we have some masterteachers, some teachers that are
at the beginning, but at thesame time, you don't want to
hold their hand.
You want to give them some, youknow, I would say not leeway,
(09:14):
but just, you know, someownership in their classroom and
how they do things.
And so I think it's reallyimportant to give them that
ability to, you know, try newthings and not be afraid to do
the do the things that you'reasking them to do, but yet know
that you're there to supportthem when they are struggling.
So I really enjoy that you dothat.
(09:35):
I think a lot of uh greatprincipals have that trait to
where they talk to their staffabout hey, this is the picture,
this is where we want to go,decide how to get there because
there's a lot of differentavenues, but as long as you do
things a certain way, we'll bein good shape.
So I really appreciate yousharing that with us today.
So, Shannon, you've beenteaching for a while, you went
(09:59):
out teaching the high schoolkids, and now you're in
administration.
Kind of what what inspired youto become an administrator?
Can you kind of take us in tothat first position as a leader
in education?
Shannon Seale (10:15):
So the first opportunity I had was at our
high school in our district forthe to be the interim assistant
principal.
The the principal at the timehad become had gotten his
superintendent certification andwas hired uh at a local
district to be thesuperintendent.
And so the print the viceprincipal assistant principal
there became the principal.
And then I wasn't that wasn'teven on my radar.
(10:37):
I was actually our districtcurriculum specialist at the
time.
And so I'm working incurriculum.
I've gotten my certification,but I'm, you know, helping
supporting teachers all over thedistrict in different grade
levels and working in alldifferent kinds of capacities.
And our superintendent calls mein and it didn't even hit me
until about 30 minutes beforewhat she was going to tell me
to, you know, she wanted me todo.
(10:58):
And so I was the interimassistant principal there for
about three months.
And then the opportunity openedup to become the assistant
principal at our elementarycampus.
And I was a little terrifiedbecause I always taught seniors,
and it's it's a pre-K to secondcampus, but it's been probably
the neatest thing I think I'veever done.
Last year we had a meeting atthe end of the year, kind of
(11:19):
reflecting on the first fullyear as principal.
And she said, What's a bigtakeaway?
And I and I I keep saying thatit's the hardest thing I've ever
just completely loved to do.
So, and you know, what inspiredme to make the move as a
teacher, I I had greatrelationships and great systems
and things that I had with myclasses, and it was such a small
(11:42):
group, you know, and I realizedwhat a bigger influence and I
could have as an administratorand not just help students, but
help the systems that were inplace and that needed to be
improved.
There's a lot of there's a lotof problems in education, and
you know, it all I always tellour campus that we're the most
important one in the district.
So um it all trickles up fromhere.
So if we don't get it right, nopressure, but yeah, they're
(12:04):
gonna be on the trajectory badtrajectory for the rest of their
lives.
Principal JL (12:07):
So no, I I really appreciate that insight.
You know, you're going fromlike a high school level
experience into the elementaryside as an assistant principal,
but then you're now also abuilding principal today.
So can you kind of take us tothe differences?
Like, hey, I was at the highschool level, I did this
(12:30):
three-month assistant principalinter interim position.
Then I got the assistantprincipal at the elementary.
What is well, how was thebiggest challenge that you had
to go from a high school into anelementary?
Because, you know, I'm notgonna, I'm I'm not an elementary
person.
I stay secondary.
(12:50):
I I'm a little not saying Icouldn't do it, but I just know
it's a different world downthere in the elementary.
How was that, you know,transition from the high school
down into the elementary foryou?
Shannon Seale (13:01):
It's been a huge learning curve.
One of the biggest things thatI've had to learn is how to talk
to people differently.
And this has been a big part ofmy, you know, professional
growth and all that, but dealingwith parents who in in a lot of
times are have have kids inschool for the first time, you
know.
So they're just learning on howto be parents with school-age
(13:22):
kids.
And we have kids that arecoming into pre-K and
kindergarten that are justlearning how to be students for
the first time.
Whereas, you know, at a highschool, you have kids that have
been in school for many years.
And so the transition onespecially how to address and
approach and deal with issuesand talk to students and parents
has been one of the biggestlessons that I've learned.
(13:44):
And but it's important becauseI'm having those same
conversations with teachers now.
So I feel like that was a goodlesson for me to learn because
now I'm passing it on to someother people.
So, but it's very different.
The kids are very different,and of course, but they still
need, you know, to some degreethe same thing.
They need consistency, theyneed someone who loves them and
(14:06):
that is firm, that believes inthem, but also has grace, but
also is makes sure they knowthat there's consequences to
their actions and all the thingsthat's all you know bubbled in
there together.
So a lot of it's the same.
They need the same things, itjust looks a little bit
different.
Principal JL (14:20):
Yeah, it does.
I know it's just going frombigger kids to smaller kids,
really.
And and uh for me, and I have adaughter that's a fifth grade
teacher in the Kansas City area,and yeah, I mean, we've we
we've talked through somethings, some situations, some
scenarios, and some things canapply from a secondary and down
in the elementary, but it is alittle bit different world.
(14:43):
I look at the elementaryteachers of kind of like the
jack of all traits and themaster of none.
Uh, so where we're kind of gotcontent specialists up in the
secondary area as well.
So, with that, you know, you'vebeen a principal there for the
last few years.
What are some important thingsyou've learned in the leadership
(15:04):
role that maybe, you know, youweren't quite like, wow, I
didn't really realize that thatwas something I would, you know,
need to do or know, or youknow, maybe you weren't prepared
for that part.
What are some things like orsome stories you have that can
attest to those things?
Shannon Seale (15:21):
Well, I think I don't know that anything can
fully prepare you.
I one of the assistantprincipal at our high school had
asked me, like, how like didyou feel prepared?
And you know, how long wouldyou have liked to have been an
assistant principal before youbecame principal?
Ideally, because I think I hadlike eight months.
And I said, I don't I don'tknow that anything can really
fully prepare you because thereare so many things that I didn't
(15:44):
even know were things until Iswitched desks, you know,
switched offices.
And so I one of the biggestthings I think that's important
is or that I learned is that Ihave to be teachable and that I
have to listen to other people.
And I feel like that was anadvantage coming from high
school to to elementary, isbecause I I tell them all the
(16:04):
time, I'm like, I've nevertaught second grade reading and
you have for 15 years.
So here's the issue that weneed to address.
What is your opinion on how wecan best, you know, tackle this
problem?
And getting all those differentperspectives has been very
important.
I think another thing that hasbeen like culture shock is just
(16:25):
the amount of time thateverything takes.
And there's so many differentthings.
There's so many differentthings.
You will never ever have timeto do everything.
And so finding out what themost important things are, what
the priorities are, and focusingyour time, your limited scarce
time on those, you know, majorpriorities is something that I
think was kind of the biggestlearning.
Principal JL (16:48):
All right.
So you kind of talk about a lotof different things you weren't
like, it's more like, you know,hey, there's you're talking
about prioritize.
You have this over here, thisover here.
How do you have like asystematic way to prioritize
things?
Or like for me, I do lists, Iput things on a Google Calendar
so I don't forget.
I'll print off emails and Iwill put them in a certain
(17:11):
location on my desk.
So and I'll go down the stackof emails to make sure I hit
them all because I know that ifI don't do that, I'm gonna lose
it and I'm not gonna get to it.
So, do you have any strategiesor ways you kind of kind of
figure out what's importantbased off of the priority and
what's you need to get to?
How do you how do you do that?
Shannon Seale (17:32):
Well, one of the things I keep in mind is
something my mentor told me theend of last year.
She retired and I cried bucketsof tears.
But before she left, she toldme, just remember your two
number one priorities are safetyand instruction.
And so I tried to do everythingthrough those lenses is think
of, you know, the safety is thepriority, and then making sure
(17:54):
that they have good qualityinstruction and they they leave
here knowing how to read and dobasic math.
You know, they're, you know,then then when they go into
third grade that they're readyfor their star test, you know,
and they're ready to be umaccomplish things as they move
on.
So I make a lot of lists.
I have I have diagnosed myselfwith ADHD this past year.
I always I got alwayssuspected, but then as all the
(18:15):
different things came in, I waslike, I really, I really think I
have ADHD like very badly.
So I do everything in Googleand Outlook calendar.
So the teachers give me a hardtime and then you know it's
Sunday afternoon and they getall the calendar invites for the
week, you know.
It's like I'm just I puteverything on the calendar.
If we have a meeting, it goeson the calendar.
(18:35):
If a kid has lunch detention,it goes on the calendar.
If I have a meeting, it goes onthe calendar.
Every single thing.
And I set a lot of alarms justto make sure that I don't
because it's easy to get caughtup in all the other things.
And I, you know, by the time Ioh, I was gonna get into this
classroom and you know, observethis teacher and she wanted some
feedback on her classroommanagement.
(18:56):
So I intended to do that in hermorning block, but then I got
tied up with these emails andthings I'm doing.
So just I set a lot of alarms,I set outlook calendar, I make a
lot of lists, and I always, ifanything comes my way, I try to
remember those two toppriorities in terms of what my
job is.
And then I try to delegate somethings too.
I've got an awesome assistantprincipal.
I only have her there though,two and a half days a week.
(19:18):
I share her with anothercampus.
And so, but whenever she'sthere, a lot of the discipline
things, you know, she is able todo.
And I am able to focus more onthose things that, you know,
that I really need to be doing.
So I don't know if that's agreat answer, but that's kind of
how I keep it straight in mymind.
I'm still learning, I'm stilltrying to figure out all the
systems.
Principal JL (19:38):
Oh, I think you you hit on some great things
there, utilizing some technologythere to kind of keep your days
squared up.
I know for me, I have to putdown my meetings and the
different things that pop up.
And one thing that I've donedifferently this year is I'll
block time for my walkthroughs.
And that's something that Ialways struggled with getting to
(19:59):
because I always get derailedwith something.
So what I did is I just startedgoing, and we're in a block
schedule at the high schoolwhere I'm at.
So I will go, okay, this is theblock that I'm going to
dedicate towards walkthroughs.
And so I'll have my littlecards with my teachers and their
schedules on it.
And so I'll pick three for theday, and that'll, you know, I'll
do it during that time, andthen I'll write up their little
(20:22):
walkthrough, and then I'm done.
Like, and I try to do thatabout three times a week out of
the five days.
I try to get three of those,you know, dedicated times into
the classroom.
And and so far I've I've hiteverybody's up to this point,
and and it's worked out well.
And so I really appreciate yousharing kind of those different
(20:59):
ways and how you keep yourselforganized, because I think
that's important.
You know, we're people ifyou're not staying organized,
you know, things will slip theirand things will slip for the
cracks even if you areorganized.
So it's just just the way ithappens.
And you know, as you know,being an educational leader,
you'll have all the plans in theworld.
But then at the same time, whensomething hits that you have to
(21:21):
take care of like right away,you gotta attend to it.
And so, you know, I know forme, just this past few weeks, I
feel like I've had some firehose moments, you know, like I
have my plan, but it doesn'tquite work out the way I want it
to as well.
So, with you being a you know,building principal for the last
few years, you've been anassistant principal as well.
(21:44):
What advice would you givepeople that are aspiring to
become an assistant principal orprincipal?
What advice would you give thembefore they take that leap?
Shannon Seale (21:56):
Um, the time management is definitely a huge
thing.
Figure out what the prioritiesare, but then also, like I
mentioned before, be teachableand be humble.
Realize that you don't have allthe answers.
And there are people, there areteachers there that could
probably do your job better thanyou could, or at least they
know more about, you know, thelevel and the things that
they're teaching than than thanyou might.
(22:18):
And so always listen to thepeople that you have around you,
seek advice from people thatyou probably aren't going to
agree with, that you know youmay not agree with, because they
can give you a really goodperspective.
And just always so there's oneof the ladies that is our in the
district person that she's onour campus, like her office is
on our campus, and she actuallyused to be the principal at the
elementary school there.
(22:39):
And so when I have like I Ikind of have tend to have these
big crazy ideas sometimes.
And so I'll usually go and I'mlike, What do you think?
And sometimes she's like, Ilike it.
And one time she was like,That's a bad idea.
And I was like, Okay, so tellme why.
And she told me she's like, I'msorry.
I'm like, don't apologize.
That's why I asked you.
It's a bad idea, it's a badidea, you know.
(23:00):
So it's like, you you have theexperience that I don't.
So if it's a bad idea, you knowwhy.
Just being willing to do that.
I know a lot of people are, youknow, I'm in charge now and
I'm, you know, very proud.
And I think that humility partand knowing that you don't have
all the answers and you couldn'tdo it without all the people
that are helping you and justfiguring out what the priority
is because all the pieces areimportant.
(23:22):
Like I was spending oneweekend, I was working on
something, I think it wasgrandparents' day, and my
husband's like, he spent a lotof time working on that.
And I said, I know, but it'simportant too, because you know,
when we're at school, like Igotta make sure that the you
know that these things are takencare of.
But you know, things likegrandparents coming in and being
happy with us is alsoimportant, you know, it's all
(23:44):
important.
And so just being able toprioritize and but really
listening, being teachable,being coachable, being able to
take criticism, even from yourteachers sometimes.
So I've had them come in andsay, Hey, can I can I ask you
about something or can I tellyou something?
And I'm like, sure.
And you know, this, you know,this is this literally be better
(24:06):
if we did it this way, or Ithink if you did it this way.
And sometimes there's a reasonwhy it's done a certain way, and
we have that conversation andwe work it out.
And then sometimes I'm like,you know, I didn't know that.
That's a great point.
Thank you.
I can I can make that change.
So just being willing to kindof roll with it.
Principal JL (24:25):
I don't know how else to say it.
Yeah, no, you know what.
Yeah, no, I really loveeverything you say there.
I love the being teachable andcoachable.
I talk about that all the timewith my staff, is to be
coachable or to be someonethat's willing to learn, not
just from me, but from otherpeople.
I know for me with staff, youknow, we have a school
(24:48):
improvement team and we reallykind of, you know, and I'm open
to suggestions, I'm open totheir ideas, I'm open to things
that I may not think of, but youtalk about leveraging the
talents of your staff.
And I think that's superimportant for people to remember
because you can't do this jobalone.
You got to have people to worktogether.
(25:10):
And I kind of look at it as ateam effort, is kind of the way
I approach it uh being a coachin football for 17 years and
wrestling and track and doingall those things before I even
got into being a principal.
I just look at that teamaspect.
How are we doing the things weneed to go?
What is your role?
How do you how do you uh fitinto the overall just function
(25:34):
of the school and how your partaffects everybody else and
things like that?
So for me, it's that's kind ofwhere I'm I really love that you
talked about those things andleveraging um the talents around
you, and you're willing tolisten and to to to take on the
their ideas or theirsuggestions.
And I'll have teachers do thesame thing, like, hey, Mr.
Lennon, have you thought of itthis way or that way?
(25:56):
And you know, I'm like, that'sgood, it's good conversation.
You gotta be able to have thosedialogues.
And the thing is, is you're allthere for the same thing as A
to get better, right?
But B to help your kids learn,grow, and go.
And so I really appreciate thatas well.
Shannon Seale (26:11):
I've got a really good leadership team.
We have a a grade level leaderfrom each of the four grade
levels, and then our SPEDteacher and our dyslexia
therapist and a counselor,assistant principal.
And so we meet about once amonth and we go through all the
things.
And there are several timeswhen I'm like, I have an idea,
and they're like, oh no.
Sometimes it's crazy.
(26:34):
I'm like, it's kind of crazy.
What do y'all think?
And but I don't ever have agiant idea that's gonna
completely, you know, do thingsdifferently that I don't run
through them first.
And I tell them in the verybeginning, I said, I will always
get your input and feedback.
I said, I I it may come a timethough, whenever I have to make
a decision that we didn't agreewith, and and you know, y'all
(26:55):
have to be okay with that too,and trust me, and you know, know
that there's some things thatsometimes I know that that
everyone doesn't know.
But I love the team thing too,and I always try to use that as
an analogy because I uh highschool basketball, you know, my
senior year, we made it to thestate championship game and we
had a great team.
(27:15):
And I was about a four or fiveminute a game player where I
gave the stars their kind ofbreak.
That was me.
So I was the cheerleader on theside, and I was a really good
practice player.
And I remember though, my dadhad a conversation with one of
my teammates' dads, and he toldand he she his daughter was one
(27:38):
of the stars, and she was acouple of years younger than me.
And he said, you know, Katiesaid that she would rather play
in the game against some ofthese opponents than in practice
because Shannon kind of givesher a hard time.
And I wasn't like bullying her,but I made it my goal to make
her better, you know.
If I can't, if I'm not gonnaplay as much as she is, then my
(27:59):
goal was to toughen her upbecause she was a great jump
shot, but she was also kind ofwimpy underneath, you know, in
the paint.
So I was like, we're gonna,we're gonna toughen you up,
girl.
And so, and that's what I tookon as my role.
And so just everyone knowingthe job that they have.
And if I always emphasize everysingle person here is
important, you know, if ifyou're not here, there's a piece
(28:21):
missing and there's somethingthat will, you know, that
doesn't get done or won't getdone as efficiently or won't get
done correctly.
And not to say you can't takeyour time that you have and that
you need, but everyone's job isimportant no matter what it is,
whether it's a five-minute gameplayer who pushes around the
star on the, you know, inpractice to toughen her up, or
(28:41):
if you're the star that's gonnamake 30 points a game.
Principal JL (28:44):
So I think that's great.
I know you kind of hit on somethings there is just hey, you if
you know your role, you'regonna do that role the best of
your ability because you helpthe overall, you know, goal of
the team or the goal of theorganization.
In our case, it's building, youknow, our schools up to make
them the best they can be.
Always like to say, you know,our goal is to be the best high
(29:06):
school in the state of Nebraska.
That's our goal.
And not just Nebraska, but thebut the nation as well.
And so that's the mindset thatthat I have my staff, but I also
love how you talk about, youknow, everybody's got a role,
but it in the in a school,there's a lot of things that
make the school run.
It's not just the teachersdoing their part.
It's you know, we haveadministrative assistants, we
(29:29):
have, like you said, assistantprincipals, we have custodial
staff, we have, oh my goodness,you know, tech staff, we have,
you know, our paraprofessionals,you know, all our different
things have to work together.
And, you know, there's yeah, Ialways look at my job is to
manage people.
Uh, you know, it's like I'mmanaging people and making sure
(29:51):
that the systems that are inplace are running correctly and
running smoothly so we can beefficient and effective as an
overall school for thebetterment of our of our kids
and our community.
And that's the overall, youknow, mindset that we have.
And do you have a similarmindset there at your school?
Shannon Seale (30:11):
Yes, for sure.
And I tell people too, I said,you know, again, if you if
you're sick, you know, I'm nottrying to shame you into not
coming to work when you're sick,you know, or taking care of
your family things.
I said, but just keep this inmind, you know, we you can walk
with crutches, right?
But you're not gonna walk aswell as you can with a full,
healthy, you know, body ofeverybody with all the pieces
(30:34):
working like it's supposed to.
You know, you can we can walkon our hands, but that's not
what our hands were meant to do.
So we can function sometimeswith you know different, you
know, if the if someone has tobe out, we can function.
It just doesn't function aswell as we all do when we're all
here doing our part.
And that's the point I wastrying to make.
Principal JL (30:51):
So I love it.
I love it.
I know I tell my staff is youknow, yeah, there's times where
you gotta, you know, you're sickor whatever, and just know that
we have people that are gonnastep in and do the best they
can.
And we do a lot of crosscoveraging, and that's not the
most popular thing because we'relow on subs.
But yeah, it's just so we dothe best we can, but at the same
(31:11):
time, when everybody's there,everybody's working together,
that's that's where the map.
Magic happens and and that'sthat's that's what I love
watching is the magic happen umfor our school.
Now one of the ways I I kind ofran into to you, Shannon, was
TikTok.
You know, I'm I've been onTikTok for a little while now,
and you know, we've kind of youknow follow each other and I've
(31:33):
been watching some of your liveTikTok feeds, something that I
haven't really gotten into muchyet.
Maybe I'll try it.
I don't know.
But what inspires you to justyou know hit the record button,
go live and share yourexperiences with others?
Shannon Seale (31:51):
I've been on TikTok for a while.
I think I got an account likein 2020, and I was just kind of
mostly an observer.
I did some things with my dog.
Mostly I joined in 2020 duringthe pandemic.
Um, my dad had passed away in2020, and then we went right
into the COVID lockdown and allthat.
So I kind of got on TikTok as away to just to laugh at
(32:13):
something, you know, and havesomething to laugh at.
But this summer is really whenI started to kind of see how
people use it to connect withother people.
But then also, I mean, let's behonest, a big part of that was,
you know, to make some money.
But I spend a lot of money onpeople.
Like I feel like I'm verygenerous, you know.
And so if I could just haveanother way to, you know, help,
(32:34):
you know, fund that generosity.
I like to do stuff for, youknow, the staff, I like to, you
know, order stuff for them andbuy stuff for them.
And so it's not all selfish.
I do have a bad shoe habit, butpart of it was monetization.
The other part of it was justthe connections and uh learning
from people.
I love to learn from differentpeople.
I love to get ideas.
(32:54):
So I've been able to connectwith a lot of teachers and um
I'll ask them, like, hey, whatdo you think about this?
Or how do what's the best wayto go about this?
And so that I can find otherways to help support my teachers
in ways that I may not befamiliar with.
So it's a it's a great for allof that.
I've met some awesome peopleand I was telling my husband, I
was like, Well, my TikTokfriend, and he had like your
(33:16):
TikTok friend.
I was like, Yeah, I havefriends on TikTok.
Principal JL (33:20):
So I think that's great.
I think that's great thatyou're able to utilize the
platform to aid, you know, kindof like your own special or kind
of like your own professionaldevelopment to where you're
learning from other people.
And I know for me, doing thepodcast, this is kind of like my
professional development.
I'm meeting a lot of differentpeople from all over the nation,
(33:42):
as well as of course the greatstate of Nebraska as well.
And I'm just learning lots ofdifferent things that people are
doing, but also I getaffirmation on the things that
we are doing and going, you knowwhat, we're doing some of the
things that these schools thatare considered like blue ribbon
schools are doing.
And so I really enjoy justlearning from other people.
(34:05):
And then the mo the mainpurpose of this podcast is to
share educational leadershipstories and about their journey,
and and hopefully this willhelp somebody that is listening
to this podcast because they canrelate to some of the the your
journey as you go through yourjourney in education.
So I really appreciate that.
Shannon Seale (34:27):
Well, I kind of had another thought as I was as
this kind of evolved, you know,what I'm doing with it is, you
know, kind of humanizing theposition a little bit, you know,
because we get a bad rap, Iknow, and from all sides, you
know, whether it's politiciansor whether it's parents or
whether it's whatever, you know,it's like we're always the
(34:48):
villain, it seems like.
And so it's like, hey, we'rejust normal people and we love
kids and these are funny thingsthat happen.
And and so trying to, you know,kind of do that too is
something that it's the thepurpose of it's kind of evolved,
(35:42):
but that's something I try todo now.
Principal JL (35:44):
Yeah, I love that as well because people don't
realize, yeah, we may be inthese positions and we may be,
you know, the face of this theschool building, but we are
people, we have feelings, we youknow, we have good days and we
have bad days, but at the sametime, you know, we're just doing
the best we can and helpingkids and helping our staff do
(36:06):
the best they can.
And, you know, there's no, inmy opinion, you know, like you
said, you know, people will hearall the negatives.
And one of the things thatwe're doing was we're trying to
push out as much positivecontent, all the great things
we're doing within the school.
So when we have those likelittle negative stories come
out, people can see all thepositive stuff that line up with
(36:28):
that maybe one negative thing.
So we can go, you know what?
You know, this one negativething isn't what we're about.
But if you look at all theseother things as well, so we're
we're kind of you know sharingour narrative, we're sharing our
story, we're making sure thatpeople know who what we're
about.
So they see those negativethings.
It's just a blip in the radarand then we're off and running.
(36:50):
So, do you guys do some similarthings at your school, like
just putting out positivemessaging and showing all the
great things?
Shannon Seale (36:58):
Yes, we're one of the things that we do is the
high school clubs and uh sportsteams will come over several
mornings during the month andhelp get kids out of the car.
And so we always make a littlevideo compilation of that and
take pictures, and we'll we'llpost their picture and say,
Thank you, you know, FFA for ourFFA officers they were there
yesterday for helping our ourlittlest owls, you know, this
(37:21):
week.
And because our school is verysmall, like we have a small
district.
I think there's a little almostalmost 800 kids in the whole
district.
That's four campuses, so pre-Kto 12.
So we there, you know, there'sa lot of families that span all
the campuses.
And so there's a lot of justtrying to put out, yeah, all the
great things that that we aredoing.
(37:42):
We also manage our own socialmedia, so that's hard.
He knows all the other things,but I do see the value in in
doing that and the positivemessaging.
I read, I forget what it wascalled, so this wasn't an
original thought, but I readsomeone, it was talking about
school using social media foryour school.
And he said, if you don't tellyour story, someone else will.
(38:03):
And so I thought that wasreally genius and trying to, you
know, fill that positive side.
So whenever you have thenegative, you know, it's not
quite so bad.
It doesn't drain the bankentirely.
Principal JL (38:13):
So yeah, you bet.
There's there's quite a feweducators that I know that have
that have said that samestatement where you want to
control your narrative, put outthe positive things.
Yeah, I could think of Joe SanFilippo as one of them.
He's the one that that I kindof think of right away because I
read his book, Hack andLeadership.
And when I was a youngprincipal, well, you're young,
(38:35):
but younger, I guess, at thistime.
You know, my cup first fewyears into the principalship,
just trying to learn and growfrom that.
So I really appreciate thatinsight.
Now, you've been in thisprofession for a while.
What are some things thatexcite you for the future of
your of your position here?
Shannon Seale (38:54):
Looking ahead, there's a couple of things.
When I originally got mymaster's degree and went in to
get my certification, a master'sdegree is actually a
curriculum.
It's not an educationalleadership, and that's something
that I feel like I'm reallypassionate about.
And I'm just, you know, whatthe kids are learning and you
know, how it's being taught atcurriculum and instruction.
And so I did two years as acurriculum specialist before I
(39:18):
went into administration.
And a lot of the jobs that Isaw that I was interested in,
even at like the district level,wanted you to have that campus
level administrator experience.
And so I was never really surehow much I would enjoy it or
not.
It was one of those things thatwas kind of like, oh, I don't
know if I want to do that ornot.
(39:39):
But I've I've loved it.
So it's kind of muddied myvision in terms of what I want
to do in the future becauseoriginally I was like, well, I'm
gonna, you know, do the coupleof years that I need to and then
move on, but I don't I don'tI'm not ready to move on.
I don't want to yet.
There's things I still want todo here on my campus and in
general.
So I don't, I'd love to get mydoctorate.
I'd love to do it in curriculuminstruction.
(39:59):
There's two programs I'mlooking at.
One is at Texas AM and theother is at the University of
Alabama.
And so I would love to do that.
And then eventually, I don'tknow when.
I I'm not gonna be able toretire for like another 20 or 25
years.
So I've got time, eventuallymove into like maybe district
curriculum.
So that's kind of what I hopeum to be doing in this future.
Principal JL (40:19):
Awesome, awesome.
I really like that.
I really forward to justfollowing your path and your
journey through watching you onTikTok and all those things as
well.
And you know, encourage you togo get that doctor because that
will definitely help you downthe road as well when it comes
to just you know trying to reachyour next step and and your
goals for aspirations personallyand uh professionally as well.
(40:43):
Shannon, we've been talking alot today and we're starting to
wind down here.
If listeners here want to knowmore about you or connect with
you, how can they do that?
Shannon Seale (40:55):
So I'm on I started an Instagram that goes
with the TikTok.
So both of those are atMrs.seal.
So that's pretty simple.
And then they could alwaysemail me.
It's shani.seal at gmail.com.
So those are probably theeasiest ways on the social media
or just by email.
Those are probably the easiestways to get a hold of me.
Principal JL (41:15):
Awesome.
And I'm gonna go ahead and putthat down in the show notes to
make it real easy for people toget in touch with you so they
can learn more about the thingsthat you are doing.
Uh, really appreciate your timetoday.
But before we go, we I trollyou a little bit about college
football.
Shannon Seale (41:33):
I know what you're about to say.
Principal JL (41:35):
I troll you a little bit just because I like
it's just fun.
I think what inspired me tostart trolling you really was
when you put out the TikTokabout what team, I believe it's
what team's gonna set my moodfor the weekend or what college
team is gonna is going to uhmake me happier sad.
(41:56):
Set my mood for the next thing.
So that that that's where I'mlike, well, she might like
college football, so I'm gonnasee what's up with that.
So I troll you a little bit.
So if people don't know orhaven't followed you much, you
know, you are a big collegefootball fan from what I've
learned from trolling you.
So what is your favorite team?
(42:17):
And do you have a favoritecollege football member?
Shannon Seale (42:20):
Um, the Baylor Bears are definitely my team.
I went to Baylor and I was apseudo-net Baylor during what
was arguably the worst fouryears in Baylor football
history, and there have beenmany, but it was it was pretty
bad when I was there.
But I've always been a big fan.
And I I gotta I gotta go backjust a tiny bit and give a shout
out to my dad.
He did pass away five yearsago, but he's the one that got
(42:42):
me interested in football.
We used to have one televisionand he loved watching football,
and so it was either watchfootball with him or do nothing
on Saturday.
So I asked him all thequestions and he taught me all
about it.
And so we would, I rememberactually, this just kind of came
to mind.
I have several favoritememories, but we were playing
(43:03):
because Nebraska used to be inthe Big 12.
When I was in college, Nebraskawas a Big 12 team.
And we were playing Nebraskafor I don't remember if it was
like a parents' weekend or what,but my parents were there and
it started pouring rain.
And my mom got up to run out,like to like go take shelter.
And me and dad are juststanding there, like, what are
you doing?
(43:24):
You're like, it's raining.
It's like, well, yeah, or justit's just water.
Like, where are you going?
Sit down, woman.
And so we we they eventuallyhad to do like a lightning delay
or whatever.
But that was funny, justplaying a team and standing out
in the rain with my dad becausewe we lost horribly, just
Nebraska always beat us reallybadly.
But in 2004, after I graduated,I went to the Texas AM Baylor
(43:49):
game in Waco.
And we haven't we hadn't beatenTexas AM in 20 years or
something ridiculous.
And we won in double overtime.
They went for two-pointconversion, and I was like,
Y'all are crazy, and they gotit, and it was insane.
And let's see what else.
And then probably in 21 won theBig 12 championship, and then
went to the sugar bowl.
(44:09):
My mom and I went to the sugarbowl.
This is hilarious.
My husband is an Alabama fan,which makes him by default a
little annoying in that in thatway.
But he does not like going togames, he would rather sit and
watch from the recliner.
He's like, Why would I go tothe stadium when I could sit in
the recliner and watch?
And I was like, But I want tobe a part of the the craziness
(44:31):
and I want to help yell on thirddown and I want to storm the
field.
I've never stormed the field,but you know, I want to be a
part of all of that.
And so he actually we went toAlabama for Christmas.
We always go and visit hisfamily.
And then on the way home, hedropped me off in New Orleans
and I met my mom there and hekept driving and I went to the
(44:52):
sugar bowl.
So we always laughed about howhe dropped me off in New Orleans
for the sugar bowl and keptdriving.
So it's a little backwards inthat way.
But we won that game and it wasamazing.
So every year, me and my mom goto a game now, and we always
try to pick one of the homegames.
And if there's a bowl game inTexas, usually we'll go.
So I have a lot of greatmemories, but still mad at Coach
Rhule a little bit, but that'sokay.
Principal JL (45:13):
All right, we'll we'll take him for now.
Shannon Seale (45:16):
Yeah, he's good guys.
Principal JL (45:18):
Yeah, we really enjoy having him, to be honest
with you.
When he got hired, I was like,what are we doing?
You know, I had no clue.
I didn't, I didn't really.
I mean, I researched him like,okay, yeah, okay, maybe Temple,
Baylor.
Apparently he wasn't very goodin the NFL.
So what's gonna be differenthere?
And I'll be what the more Ilearned about him, the more he's
(45:42):
interacted with our fan basebecause he's somebody that's
actually gone out and reallyjust got to know Nebraska as a
state.
That means a lot, a lot ofpeople.
And I think, you know, he forwhat we can tell, he really
likes it here.
He's does the podcast now.
And you know, you know,Nebraska, we have resources that
(46:03):
people don't realize we have.
Uh but at the same time, Ithink this is gonna be a fun
year.
It's just, you know, we stubbedour stuff our toe a little bit
against Michigan.
I was at that game, which was alot of fun.
I was the Hail Mary was caughtin the end zone that we were
sitting in, so that was that wasfun to be a part of, but we
(46:24):
lost that game up front.
We didn't, that was just ourour O and D line just couldn't
get the push or get the holesopened up like we needed to.
And with Riaola getting sackedseven times, but still throwing
for 300 yards, prettyimpressive.
You know, and still having likea 74% completion rate.
Yeah, we're not as bad as you'dthink we are.
(46:48):
It's just we gotta make sureour line play gets better, and
then we'll have a shot in thesesome of these bigger games.
So down the road, hopefullythey'll it will it will come to
fruition to where you knowNebraska's, you know, getting
those double digit wins again,like we haven't seen since
probably 2012, maybe 2011,something like that.
(47:09):
When Bull Palini was our coach,was the last time we've had a
double digits win.
And we were still in the Big 12at that time.
So hey Shannon, it was great tohave you on the show today.
I appreciate you.
Do you have anything you'd liketo say before we go?
Shannon Seale (47:25):
I can't think of anything else.
I think I've kind of blurtedout all my thoughts.
Principal JL (47:29):
So yeah, I appreciate you being on the
show.
Have a great day.
Shannon Seale (47:33):
Thank you, bye.
Principal JL (47:35):
What a fantastic conversation with Principal
Shannon Seale.
I love hearing about herjourney from teaching social
studies to leading OdomElementary.
Shannon reminds us that greatleadership is built on
relationships, reflection, andstaying true to who you are.
If you enjoyed this episode,make sure to follow and
(47:56):
subscribe to this podcast so youdon't miss any more inspiring
episodes from school leaderslike this one.
Until next time, remember toalways be curious and one
percent better.
Fun story everybody.
The first time I came acrosstoday's guest is Shannon Seale.
It wasn't through a conferenceor a leadership network.
It was through the TikTok.
Oh yes, TikTok.
We have been friends on TikTokfor a while, and then I stumbled
across one of her posts whereshe was pondering which college
(01:19):
football team was gonna dictateher mood for the next four
months.
And I just started rolling withlaughter.
From there I started followingher live TikToks, and I quickly
realized this is someone thatbrings authenticity, energy, and
real talk to the work ofeducational leaders everywhere.
So I reached out to her and Isaid, I've gotta have you on the
(01:42):
show.
And here we are.
Now a little bit about Shannon.
She's starting her 21st year ineducation, a journey that spans
from teaching high schoolsocial studies and graded AP
exams to becoming the principalof Odom Elementary School.
She's got a Bachelor of Arts inPolitical Science from Baylor
University and a Masters ofEducation from Sam Houston
(02:06):
State.
She loves music, ministry, andmaking a difference in her
community.
You're gonna love herperspective on leadership.
Now let's get to theconversation with Shannon Seal.
Welcome back, everybody, foranother episode of the
(02:31):
Educational Leadership Podcast.
Hope you guys are having agreat day out there.
I am so excited today to bringin Shannon Seale.
I've been watching her onTikTok.
And so, you know, I'm bringingher on the show.
I'd like to learn more abouther and kind of what got her
into the leadership role.
So, Shannon, welcome to theshow.
Shannon Seale (02:51):
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Principal JL (02:53):
All right, Shannon.
I'm gonna go ahead and startyou off with the same question I
ask everybody else on thisshow.
What inspires you to become aneducator?
Shannon Seale (03:06):
So I always kind of wanted to be a teacher when I
was growing up.
And I always laughed that thatmight have been partially
because I'm kind of bossy andlike to tell people what to do.
But I as a kid growing up, Ialways asked my teachers if I
could have like the extraworksheets that they had left
over.
And when my friends would comeover, I'm surprised I had any
friends because I always madethem play school with me.
And my mom was a teacher, she'sa dental hygienist, and then
(03:30):
she went into teaching dentalhygiene.
And so that was always justkind of, you know, something
that was in the forefront of mymind.
When I went to Baylor, I did mybachelor's degree in political
science, and that was not theroute I thought I was going to
take teaching, but my originalplan didn't really pan out.
And not to say that this wasjust like a backup plan, but I
(03:50):
think it's what I was supposedto do all along.
I think that's why the originalplan didn't work out.
But I knew I wanted to teachhigh school and government.
I had a horrible experiencewith my high school government
teacher, and I knew it was soimportant.
And when I was in college andwith all these crazy things
happening in the world, and kindof at the same time that I was
taking these political scienceclasses for the first time, and
(04:11):
I was like, this could be reallyinteresting and it's very
important.
So it inspired me to do thatparticularly.
And I love kids, I love workingwith teenagers.
I worked at a youth camp forseveral years, and my husband
and I were in youth ministry atour church for the last 15.
So we just love helping kids.
Principal JL (04:30):
Awesome.
It sounds like that's kind oflike a natural fit, right?
So all the past experiences andkind of led into that.
And, you know, I didn't grow upwith educators in my family,
but my kids have, and I have onethat is in education now.
So it's kind of neat to see,you know, how being in education
inspired the next generation aswell.
(04:51):
So awesome.
Now you're in high school,you're teaching uh social
studies.
What are some experiences youhave as a teacher that helped
you with the leadership role?
What are some leadership rolesas a teacher that help you kind
of formulate, you know, theleadership that you have today?
Shannon Seale (05:13):
My a lot of the leadership kind of experience
that I have didn't necessarilycome as a teacher, but I had
several other kind ofexperiences that were put me in
leadership positions.
I was our, what do you call it,our department chair at the
last high school where I taught.
And I did have opportunity atthe high school before that to
do some curriculum writing.
So I was able to kind of getinto some of those things.
(05:34):
But a lot of the experiences Ihad there, I think really helped
kind of shape what I do and whoI am as a leader.
I I think one of the biggestthings I learned was the
importance of diversity.
And mostly when we talk aboutthat, we think about racial, but
I mean diversity of opinion andperspective and thought and
experience and all of that, andhow much of that plays into the
(05:56):
decisions that you make and thecounsel that you get and all the
things that you do.
I feel like I've seen a lot ofbad leaders, and that kind of
inspired me to do thingsdifferently, you know, take some
of the experiences that I'vehad and try to do better, be
better.
Principal JL (06:12):
So yeah, would you say, like watching those
leaders that you've kind ofwatched that you would say,
yeah, may not be the bestexample.
Uh, what are some things thatyou learn from to say, hey,
maybe not do that?
Shannon Seale (06:26):
One of the things is avoiding conflict.
So you can't avoid conflicts.
And I love that analogy that,you know, if you keep sleeping
things under the rug, eventuallysomeone will trip over it.
So you have to, you can't avoidconflict.
And especially in our job,there's you have to, you know,
confront teachers sometimes andyou know, parents, and there's
so many different angles ofthings that are, you know, going
(06:48):
to come out.
You can't just ignore theproblems.
So that's been a big thing.
And another one is you don'twant your people to hear from
you just whenever it's bad.
You know, you have to make goodconnections too.
And you know, I don't ever wantmy teachers to say, like, oh,
she's here.
What is she?
You know, I must, I must havedone something wrong.
You know, I want them to think,you know, oh, she's coming in
to say hi and tell me goodmorning and, you know, um, see
(07:09):
how things are going.
So mostly, you know, onlymaking contact when it's bad and
avoiding conflict.
Those are two big things that Isaw that I wanted to make sure
I did differently.
Principal JL (07:19):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I know I had a a couple ofexperiences, not to say that my
principals at the time wereterrible people.
They're great people, but therewas my first experience as a
teacher.
The only time I really heardfrom my principal was there was
a problem and they wanted tocome talk to me about it.
So I really enjoy that you wantto connect with people, not
(07:40):
just, hey, I got to do the hardstuff, but I want to connect
with you in the good times andthe good things as well.
And I think that's reallyimportant uh for our staff and
our teachers to see us in thosedifferent elements, not just
when we have to do the hardstuff and have the tough
conversations, but to have thethe great conversations and the
(08:02):
joy of the job.
So I really appreciate yousharing that with us today.
Shannon Seale (08:07):
So the other, you know, sorry, the other thing
that I just thought of somethingelse.
The other thing that has reallykind of been a huge thing is
micromanaging.
I despise being micromanaged.
So I always tell my teachers,like, look, this is the end
picture of what we want and youknow how you decide best to get
there as long as it's legal andmoral and not going to end this
(08:27):
up on Facebook.
And, you know, as long as I candefend what you're doing, then
let's try it, you know.
But at the same time, you know,some teachers need a lot more
and want a lot more handholding.
So trying to kind of find thatbalance between, you know, who
needs what and who who wants youto lead them a certain way.
But I I try with everything Ican to not be a micromanager.
This is the in picture, and youhelp me decide how we're gonna
(08:51):
get there by doing what you knowhow to do.
Principal JL (08:53):
Yeah, I I love that just because, you know, as
educational leaders, we, youknow, we have a lot of different
teachers at a lot of differentlevels.
Like we have some masterteachers, some teachers that are
at the beginning, but at thesame time, you don't want to
hold their hand.
You want to give them some, youknow, I would say not leeway,
(09:14):
but just, you know, someownership in their classroom and
how they do things.
And so I think it's reallyimportant to give them that
ability to, you know, try newthings and not be afraid to do
the do the things that you'reasking them to do, but yet know
that you're there to supportthem when they are struggling.
So I really enjoy that you dothat.
(09:35):
I think a lot of uh greatprincipals have that trait to
where they talk to their staffabout hey, this is the picture,
this is where we want to go,decide how to get there because
there's a lot of differentavenues, but as long as you do
things a certain way, we'll bein good shape.
So I really appreciate yousharing that with us today.
So, Shannon, you've beenteaching for a while, you went
(09:59):
out teaching the high schoolkids, and now you're in
administration.
Kind of what what inspired youto become an administrator?
Can you kind of take us in tothat first position as a leader
in education?
Shannon Seale (10:15):
So the first opportunity I had was at our
high school in our district forthe to be the interim assistant
principal.
The the principal at the timehad become had gotten his
superintendent certification andwas hired uh at a local
district to be thesuperintendent.
And so the print the viceprincipal assistant principal
there became the principal.
And then I wasn't that wasn'teven on my radar.
(10:37):
I was actually our districtcurriculum specialist at the
time.
And so I'm working incurriculum.
I've gotten my certification,but I'm, you know, helping
supporting teachers all over thedistrict in different grade
levels and working in alldifferent kinds of capacities.
And our superintendent calls mein and it didn't even hit me
until about 30 minutes beforewhat she was going to tell me
to, you know, she wanted me todo.
(10:58):
And so I was the interimassistant principal there for
about three months.
And then the opportunity openedup to become the assistant
principal at our elementarycampus.
And I was a little terrifiedbecause I always taught seniors,
and it's it's a pre-K to secondcampus, but it's been probably
the neatest thing I think I'veever done.
Last year we had a meeting atthe end of the year, kind of
(11:19):
reflecting on the first fullyear as principal.
And she said, What's a bigtakeaway?
And I and I I keep saying thatit's the hardest thing I've ever
just completely loved to do.
So, and you know, what inspiredme to make the move as a
teacher, I I had greatrelationships and great systems
and things that I had with myclasses, and it was such a small
(11:42):
group, you know, and I realizedwhat a bigger influence and I
could have as an administratorand not just help students, but
help the systems that were inplace and that needed to be
improved.
There's a lot of there's a lotof problems in education, and
you know, it all I always tellour campus that we're the most
important one in the district.
So um it all trickles up fromhere.
So if we don't get it right, nopressure, but yeah, they're
(12:04):
gonna be on the trajectory badtrajectory for the rest of their
lives.
Principal JL (12:07):
So no, I I really appreciate that insight.
You know, you're going fromlike a high school level
experience into the elementaryside as an assistant principal,
but then you're now also abuilding principal today.
So can you kind of take us tothe differences?
Like, hey, I was at the highschool level, I did this
(12:30):
three-month assistant principalinter interim position.
Then I got the assistantprincipal at the elementary.
What is well, how was thebiggest challenge that you had
to go from a high school into anelementary?
Because, you know, I'm notgonna, I'm I'm not an elementary
person.
I stay secondary.
(12:50):
I I'm a little not saying Icouldn't do it, but I just know
it's a different world downthere in the elementary.
How was that, you know,transition from the high school
down into the elementary foryou?
Shannon Seale (13:01):
It's been a huge learning curve.
One of the biggest things thatI've had to learn is how to talk
to people differently.
And this has been a big part ofmy, you know, professional
growth and all that, but dealingwith parents who in in a lot of
times are have have kids inschool for the first time, you
know.
So they're just learning on howto be parents with school-age
(13:22):
kids.
And we have kids that arecoming into pre-K and
kindergarten that are justlearning how to be students for
the first time.
Whereas, you know, at a highschool, you have kids that have
been in school for many years.
And so the transition onespecially how to address and
approach and deal with issuesand talk to students and parents
has been one of the biggestlessons that I've learned.
(13:44):
And but it's important becauseI'm having those same
conversations with teachers now.
So I feel like that was a goodlesson for me to learn because
now I'm passing it on to someother people.
So, but it's very different.
The kids are very different,and of course, but they still
need, you know, to some degreethe same thing.
They need consistency, theyneed someone who loves them and
(14:06):
that is firm, that believes inthem, but also has grace, but
also is makes sure they knowthat there's consequences to
their actions and all the thingsthat's all you know bubbled in
there together.
So a lot of it's the same.
They need the same things, itjust looks a little bit
different.
Principal JL (14:20):
Yeah, it does.
I know it's just going frombigger kids to smaller kids,
really.
And and uh for me, and I have adaughter that's a fifth grade
teacher in the Kansas City area,and yeah, I mean, we've we
we've talked through somethings, some situations, some
scenarios, and some things canapply from a secondary and down
in the elementary, but it is alittle bit different world.
(14:43):
I look at the elementaryteachers of kind of like the
jack of all traits and themaster of none.
Uh, so where we're kind of gotcontent specialists up in the
secondary area as well.
So, with that, you know, you'vebeen a principal there for the
last few years.
What are some important thingsyou've learned in the leadership
(15:04):
role that maybe, you know, youweren't quite like, wow, I
didn't really realize that thatwas something I would, you know,
need to do or know, or youknow, maybe you weren't prepared
for that part.
What are some things like orsome stories you have that can
attest to those things?
Shannon Seale (15:21):
Well, I think I don't know that anything can
fully prepare you.
I one of the assistantprincipal at our high school had
asked me, like, how like didyou feel prepared?
And you know, how long wouldyou have liked to have been an
assistant principal before youbecame principal?
Ideally, because I think I hadlike eight months.
And I said, I don't I don'tknow that anything can really
fully prepare you because thereare so many things that I didn't
(15:44):
even know were things until Iswitched desks, you know,
switched offices.
And so I one of the biggestthings I think that's important
is or that I learned is that Ihave to be teachable and that I
have to listen to other people.
And I feel like that was anadvantage coming from high
school to to elementary, isbecause I I tell them all the
(16:04):
time, I'm like, I've nevertaught second grade reading and
you have for 15 years.
So here's the issue that weneed to address.
What is your opinion on how wecan best, you know, tackle this
problem?
And getting all those differentperspectives has been very
important.
I think another thing that hasbeen like culture shock is just
(16:25):
the amount of time thateverything takes.
And there's so many differentthings.
There's so many differentthings.
You will never ever have timeto do everything.
And so finding out what themost important things are, what
the priorities are, and focusingyour time, your limited scarce
time on those, you know, majorpriorities is something that I
think was kind of the biggestlearning.
Principal JL (16:48):
All right.
So you kind of talk about a lotof different things you weren't
like, it's more like, you know,hey, there's you're talking
about prioritize.
You have this over here, thisover here.
How do you have like asystematic way to prioritize
things?
Or like for me, I do lists, Iput things on a Google Calendar
so I don't forget.
I'll print off emails and Iwill put them in a certain
(17:11):
location on my desk.
So and I'll go down the stackof emails to make sure I hit
them all because I know that ifI don't do that, I'm gonna lose
it and I'm not gonna get to it.
So, do you have any strategiesor ways you kind of kind of
figure out what's importantbased off of the priority and
what's you need to get to?
How do you how do you do that?
Shannon Seale (17:32):
Well, one of the things I keep in mind is
something my mentor told me theend of last year.
She retired and I cried bucketsof tears.
But before she left, she toldme, just remember your two
number one priorities are safetyand instruction.
And so I tried to do everythingthrough those lenses is think
of, you know, the safety is thepriority, and then making sure
(17:54):
that they have good qualityinstruction and they they leave
here knowing how to read and dobasic math.
You know, they're, you know,then then when they go into
third grade that they're readyfor their star test, you know,
and they're ready to be umaccomplish things as they move
on.
So I make a lot of lists.
I have I have diagnosed myselfwith ADHD this past year.
I always I got alwayssuspected, but then as all the
(18:15):
different things came in, I waslike, I really, I really think I
have ADHD like very badly.
So I do everything in Googleand Outlook calendar.
So the teachers give me a hardtime and then you know it's
Sunday afternoon and they getall the calendar invites for the
week, you know.
It's like I'm just I puteverything on the calendar.
If we have a meeting, it goeson the calendar.
(18:35):
If a kid has lunch detention,it goes on the calendar.
If I have a meeting, it goes onthe calendar.
Every single thing.
And I set a lot of alarms justto make sure that I don't
because it's easy to get caughtup in all the other things.
And I, you know, by the time Ioh, I was gonna get into this
classroom and you know, observethis teacher and she wanted some
feedback on her classroommanagement.
(18:56):
So I intended to do that in hermorning block, but then I got
tied up with these emails andthings I'm doing.
So just I set a lot of alarms,I set outlook calendar, I make a
lot of lists, and I always, ifanything comes my way, I try to
remember those two toppriorities in terms of what my
job is.
And then I try to delegate somethings too.
I've got an awesome assistantprincipal.
I only have her there though,two and a half days a week.
(19:18):
I share her with anothercampus.
And so, but whenever she'sthere, a lot of the discipline
things, you know, she is able todo.
And I am able to focus more onthose things that, you know,
that I really need to be doing.
So I don't know if that's agreat answer, but that's kind of
how I keep it straight in mymind.
I'm still learning, I'm stilltrying to figure out all the
systems.
Principal JL (19:38):
Oh, I think you you hit on some great things
there, utilizing some technologythere to kind of keep your days
squared up.
I know for me, I have to putdown my meetings and the
different things that pop up.
And one thing that I've donedifferently this year is I'll
block time for my walkthroughs.
And that's something that Ialways struggled with getting to
(19:59):
because I always get derailedwith something.
So what I did is I just startedgoing, and we're in a block
schedule at the high schoolwhere I'm at.
So I will go, okay, this is theblock that I'm going to
dedicate towards walkthroughs.
And so I'll have my littlecards with my teachers and their
schedules on it.
And so I'll pick three for theday, and that'll, you know, I'll
do it during that time, andthen I'll write up their little
(20:22):
walkthrough, and then I'm done.
Like, and I try to do thatabout three times a week out of
the five days.
I try to get three of those,you know, dedicated times into
the classroom.
And and so far I've I've hiteverybody's up to this point,
and and it's worked out well.
And so I really appreciate yousharing kind of those different
(20:59):
ways and how you keep yourselforganized, because I think
that's important.
You know, we're people ifyou're not staying organized,
you know, things will slip theirand things will slip for the
cracks even if you areorganized.
So it's just just the way ithappens.
And you know, as you know,being an educational leader,
you'll have all the plans in theworld.
But then at the same time, whensomething hits that you have to
(21:21):
take care of like right away,you gotta attend to it.
And so, you know, I know forme, just this past few weeks, I
feel like I've had some firehose moments, you know, like I
have my plan, but it doesn'tquite work out the way I want it
to as well.
So, with you being a you know,building principal for the last
few years, you've been anassistant principal as well.
(21:44):
What advice would you givepeople that are aspiring to
become an assistant principal orprincipal?
What advice would you give thembefore they take that leap?
Shannon Seale (21:56):
Um, the time management is definitely a huge
thing.
Figure out what the prioritiesare, but then also, like I
mentioned before, be teachableand be humble.
Realize that you don't have allthe answers.
And there are people, there areteachers there that could
probably do your job better thanyou could, or at least they
know more about, you know, thelevel and the things that
they're teaching than than thanyou might.
(22:18):
And so always listen to thepeople that you have around you,
seek advice from people thatyou probably aren't going to
agree with, that you know youmay not agree with, because they
can give you a really goodperspective.
And just always so there's oneof the ladies that is our in the
district person that she's onour campus, like her office is
on our campus, and she actuallyused to be the principal at the
elementary school there.
(22:39):
And so when I have like I Ikind of have tend to have these
big crazy ideas sometimes.
And so I'll usually go and I'mlike, What do you think?
And sometimes she's like, Ilike it.
And one time she was like,That's a bad idea.
And I was like, Okay, so tellme why.
And she told me she's like, I'msorry.
I'm like, don't apologize.
That's why I asked you.
It's a bad idea, it's a badidea, you know.
(23:00):
So it's like, you you have theexperience that I don't.
So if it's a bad idea, you knowwhy.
Just being willing to do that.
I know a lot of people are, youknow, I'm in charge now and
I'm, you know, very proud.
And I think that humility partand knowing that you don't have
all the answers and you couldn'tdo it without all the people
that are helping you and justfiguring out what the priority
is because all the pieces areimportant.
(23:22):
Like I was spending oneweekend, I was working on
something, I think it wasgrandparents' day, and my
husband's like, he spent a lotof time working on that.
And I said, I know, but it'simportant too, because you know,
when we're at school, like Igotta make sure that the you
know that these things are takencare of.
But you know, things likegrandparents coming in and being
happy with us is alsoimportant, you know, it's all
(23:44):
important.
And so just being able toprioritize and but really
listening, being teachable,being coachable, being able to
take criticism, even from yourteachers sometimes.
So I've had them come in andsay, Hey, can I can I ask you
about something or can I tellyou something?
And I'm like, sure.
And you know, this, you know,this is this literally be better
(24:06):
if we did it this way, or Ithink if you did it this way.
And sometimes there's a reasonwhy it's done a certain way, and
we have that conversation andwe work it out.
And then sometimes I'm like,you know, I didn't know that.
That's a great point.
Thank you.
I can I can make that change.
So just being willing to kindof roll with it.
Principal JL (24:25):
I don't know how else to say it.
Yeah, no, you know what.
Yeah, no, I really loveeverything you say there.
I love the being teachable andcoachable.
I talk about that all the timewith my staff, is to be
coachable or to be someonethat's willing to learn, not
just from me, but from otherpeople.
I know for me with staff, youknow, we have a school
(24:48):
improvement team and we reallykind of, you know, and I'm open
to suggestions, I'm open totheir ideas, I'm open to things
that I may not think of, but youtalk about leveraging the
talents of your staff.
And I think that's superimportant for people to remember
because you can't do this jobalone.
You got to have people to worktogether.
(25:10):
And I kind of look at it as ateam effort, is kind of the way
I approach it uh being a coachin football for 17 years and
wrestling and track and doingall those things before I even
got into being a principal.
I just look at that teamaspect.
How are we doing the things weneed to go?
What is your role?
How do you how do you uh fitinto the overall just function
(25:34):
of the school and how your partaffects everybody else and
things like that?
So for me, it's that's kind ofwhere I'm I really love that you
talked about those things andleveraging um the talents around
you, and you're willing tolisten and to to to take on the
their ideas or theirsuggestions.
And I'll have teachers do thesame thing, like, hey, Mr.
Lennon, have you thought of itthis way or that way?
(25:56):
And you know, I'm like, that'sgood, it's good conversation.
You gotta be able to have thosedialogues.
And the thing is, is you're allthere for the same thing as A
to get better, right?
But B to help your kids learn,grow, and go.
And so I really appreciate thatas well.
Shannon Seale (26:11):
I've got a really good leadership team.
We have a a grade level leaderfrom each of the four grade
levels, and then our SPEDteacher and our dyslexia
therapist and a counselor,assistant principal.
And so we meet about once amonth and we go through all the
things.
And there are several timeswhen I'm like, I have an idea,
and they're like, oh no.
Sometimes it's crazy.
(26:34):
I'm like, it's kind of crazy.
What do y'all think?
And but I don't ever have agiant idea that's gonna
completely, you know, do thingsdifferently that I don't run
through them first.
And I tell them in the verybeginning, I said, I will always
get your input and feedback.
I said, I I it may come a timethough, whenever I have to make
a decision that we didn't agreewith, and and you know, y'all
(26:55):
have to be okay with that too,and trust me, and you know, know
that there's some things thatsometimes I know that that
everyone doesn't know.
But I love the team thing too,and I always try to use that as
an analogy because I uh highschool basketball, you know, my
senior year, we made it to thestate championship game and we
had a great team.
(27:15):
And I was about a four or fiveminute a game player where I
gave the stars their kind ofbreak.
That was me.
So I was the cheerleader on theside, and I was a really good
practice player.
And I remember though, my dadhad a conversation with one of
my teammates' dads, and he toldand he she his daughter was one
(27:38):
of the stars, and she was acouple of years younger than me.
And he said, you know, Katiesaid that she would rather play
in the game against some ofthese opponents than in practice
because Shannon kind of givesher a hard time.
And I wasn't like bullying her,but I made it my goal to make
her better, you know.
If I can't, if I'm not gonnaplay as much as she is, then my
(27:59):
goal was to toughen her upbecause she was a great jump
shot, but she was also kind ofwimpy underneath, you know, in
the paint.
So I was like, we're gonna,we're gonna toughen you up,
girl.
And so, and that's what I tookon as my role.
And so just everyone knowingthe job that they have.
And if I always emphasize everysingle person here is
important, you know, if ifyou're not here, there's a piece
(28:21):
missing and there's somethingthat will, you know, that
doesn't get done or won't getdone as efficiently or won't get
done correctly.
And not to say you can't takeyour time that you have and that
you need, but everyone's job isimportant no matter what it is,
whether it's a five-minute gameplayer who pushes around the
star on the, you know, inpractice to toughen her up, or
(28:41):
if you're the star that's gonnamake 30 points a game.
Principal JL (28:44):
So I think that's great.
I know you kind of hit on somethings there is just hey, you if
you know your role, you'regonna do that role the best of
your ability because you helpthe overall, you know, goal of
the team or the goal of theorganization.
In our case, it's building, youknow, our schools up to make
them the best they can be.
Always like to say, you know,our goal is to be the best high
(29:06):
school in the state of Nebraska.
That's our goal.
And not just Nebraska, but thebut the nation as well.
And so that's the mindset thatthat I have my staff, but I also
love how you talk about, youknow, everybody's got a role,
but it in the in a school,there's a lot of things that
make the school run.
It's not just the teachersdoing their part.
It's you know, we haveadministrative assistants, we
(29:29):
have, like you said, assistantprincipals, we have custodial
staff, we have, oh my goodness,you know, tech staff, we have,
you know, our paraprofessionals,you know, all our different
things have to work together.
And, you know, there's yeah, Ialways look at my job is to
manage people.
Uh, you know, it's like I'mmanaging people and making sure
(29:51):
that the systems that are inplace are running correctly and
running smoothly so we can beefficient and effective as an
overall school for thebetterment of our of our kids
and our community.
And that's the overall, youknow, mindset that we have.
And do you have a similarmindset there at your school?
Shannon Seale (30:11):
Yes, for sure.
And I tell people too, I said,you know, again, if you if
you're sick, you know, I'm nottrying to shame you into not
coming to work when you're sick,you know, or taking care of
your family things.
I said, but just keep this inmind, you know, we you can walk
with crutches, right?
But you're not gonna walk aswell as you can with a full,
healthy, you know, body ofeverybody with all the pieces
(30:34):
working like it's supposed to.
You know, you can we can walkon our hands, but that's not
what our hands were meant to do.
So we can function sometimeswith you know different, you
know, if the if someone has tobe out, we can function.
It just doesn't function aswell as we all do when we're all
here doing our part.
And that's the point I wastrying to make.
Principal JL (30:51):
So I love it.
I love it.
I know I tell my staff is youknow, yeah, there's times where
you gotta, you know, you're sickor whatever, and just know that
we have people that are gonnastep in and do the best they
can.
And we do a lot of crosscoveraging, and that's not the
most popular thing because we'relow on subs.
But yeah, it's just so we dothe best we can, but at the same
(31:11):
time, when everybody's there,everybody's working together,
that's that's where the map.
Magic happens and and that'sthat's that's what I love
watching is the magic happen umfor our school.
Now one of the ways I I kind ofran into to you, Shannon, was
TikTok.
You know, I'm I've been onTikTok for a little while now,
and you know, we've kind of youknow follow each other and I've
(31:33):
been watching some of your liveTikTok feeds, something that I
haven't really gotten into muchyet.
Maybe I'll try it.
I don't know.
But what inspires you to justyou know hit the record button,
go live and share yourexperiences with others?
Shannon Seale (31:51):
I've been on TikTok for a while.
I think I got an account likein 2020, and I was just kind of
mostly an observer.
I did some things with my dog.
Mostly I joined in 2020 duringthe pandemic.
Um, my dad had passed away in2020, and then we went right
into the COVID lockdown and allthat.
So I kind of got on TikTok as away to just to laugh at
(32:13):
something, you know, and havesomething to laugh at.
But this summer is really whenI started to kind of see how
people use it to connect withother people.
But then also, I mean, let's behonest, a big part of that was,
you know, to make some money.
But I spend a lot of money onpeople.
Like I feel like I'm verygenerous, you know.
And so if I could just haveanother way to, you know, help,
(32:34):
you know, fund that generosity.
I like to do stuff for, youknow, the staff, I like to, you
know, order stuff for them andbuy stuff for them.
And so it's not all selfish.
I do have a bad shoe habit, butpart of it was monetization.
The other part of it was justthe connections and uh learning
from people.
I love to learn from differentpeople.
I love to get ideas.
(32:54):
So I've been able to connectwith a lot of teachers and um
I'll ask them, like, hey, whatdo you think about this?
Or how do what's the best wayto go about this?
And so that I can find otherways to help support my teachers
in ways that I may not befamiliar with.
So it's a it's a great for allof that.
I've met some awesome peopleand I was telling my husband, I
was like, Well, my TikTokfriend, and he had like your
(33:16):
TikTok friend.
I was like, Yeah, I havefriends on TikTok.
Principal JL (33:20):
So I think that's great.
I think that's great thatyou're able to utilize the
platform to aid, you know, kindof like your own special or kind
of like your own professionaldevelopment to where you're
learning from other people.
And I know for me, doing thepodcast, this is kind of like my
professional development.
I'm meeting a lot of differentpeople from all over the nation,
(33:42):
as well as of course the greatstate of Nebraska as well.
And I'm just learning lots ofdifferent things that people are
doing, but also I getaffirmation on the things that
we are doing and going, you knowwhat, we're doing some of the
things that these schools thatare considered like blue ribbon
schools are doing.
And so I really enjoy justlearning from other people.
(34:05):
And then the mo the mainpurpose of this podcast is to
share educational leadershipstories and about their journey,
and and hopefully this willhelp somebody that is listening
to this podcast because they canrelate to some of the the your
journey as you go through yourjourney in education.
So I really appreciate that.
Shannon Seale (34:27):
Well, I kind of had another thought as I was as
this kind of evolved, you know,what I'm doing with it is, you
know, kind of humanizing theposition a little bit, you know,
because we get a bad rap, Iknow, and from all sides, you
know, whether it's politiciansor whether it's parents or
whether it's whatever, you know,it's like we're always the
(34:48):
villain, it seems like.
And so it's like, hey, we'rejust normal people and we love
kids and these are funny thingsthat happen.
And and so trying to, you know,kind of do that too is
something that it's the thepurpose of it's kind of evolved,
(35:42):
but that's something I try todo now.
Principal JL (35:44):
Yeah, I love that as well because people don't
realize, yeah, we may be inthese positions and we may be,
you know, the face of this theschool building, but we are
people, we have feelings, we youknow, we have good days and we
have bad days, but at the sametime, you know, we're just doing
the best we can and helpingkids and helping our staff do
(36:06):
the best they can.
And, you know, there's no, inmy opinion, you know, like you
said, you know, people will hearall the negatives.
And one of the things thatwe're doing was we're trying to
push out as much positivecontent, all the great things
we're doing within the school.
So when we have those likelittle negative stories come
out, people can see all thepositive stuff that line up with
(36:28):
that maybe one negative thing.
So we can go, you know what?
You know, this one negativething isn't what we're about.
But if you look at all theseother things as well, so we're
we're kind of you know sharingour narrative, we're sharing our
story, we're making sure thatpeople know who what we're
about.
So they see those negativethings.
It's just a blip in the radarand then we're off and running.
(36:50):
So, do you guys do some similarthings at your school, like
just putting out positivemessaging and showing all the
great things?
Shannon Seale (36:58):
Yes, we're one of the things that we do is the
high school clubs and uh sportsteams will come over several
mornings during the month andhelp get kids out of the car.
And so we always make a littlevideo compilation of that and
take pictures, and we'll we'llpost their picture and say,
Thank you, you know, FFA for ourFFA officers they were there
yesterday for helping our ourlittlest owls, you know, this
(37:21):
week.
And because our school is verysmall, like we have a small
district.
I think there's a little almostalmost 800 kids in the whole
district.
That's four campuses, so pre-Kto 12.
So we there, you know, there'sa lot of families that span all
the campuses.
And so there's a lot of justtrying to put out, yeah, all the
great things that that we aredoing.
(37:42):
We also manage our own socialmedia, so that's hard.
He knows all the other things,but I do see the value in in
doing that and the positivemessaging.
I read, I forget what it wascalled, so this wasn't an
original thought, but I readsomeone, it was talking about
school using social media foryour school.
And he said, if you don't tellyour story, someone else will.
(38:03):
And so I thought that wasreally genius and trying to, you
know, fill that positive side.
So whenever you have thenegative, you know, it's not
quite so bad.
It doesn't drain the bankentirely.
Principal JL (38:13):
So yeah, you bet.
There's there's quite a feweducators that I know that have
that have said that samestatement where you want to
control your narrative, put outthe positive things.
Yeah, I could think of Joe SanFilippo as one of them.
He's the one that that I kindof think of right away because I
read his book, Hack andLeadership.
And when I was a youngprincipal, well, you're young,
(38:35):
but younger, I guess, at thistime.
You know, my cup first fewyears into the principalship,
just trying to learn and growfrom that.
So I really appreciate thatinsight.
Now, you've been in thisprofession for a while.
What are some things thatexcite you for the future of
your of your position here?
Shannon Seale (38:54):
Looking ahead, there's a couple of things.
When I originally got mymaster's degree and went in to
get my certification, a master'sdegree is actually a
curriculum.
It's not an educationalleadership, and that's something
that I feel like I'm reallypassionate about.
And I'm just, you know, whatthe kids are learning and you
know, how it's being taught atcurriculum and instruction.
And so I did two years as acurriculum specialist before I
(39:18):
went into administration.
And a lot of the jobs that Isaw that I was interested in,
even at like the district level,wanted you to have that campus
level administrator experience.
And so I was never really surehow much I would enjoy it or
not.
It was one of those things thatwas kind of like, oh, I don't
know if I want to do that ornot.
(39:39):
But I've I've loved it.
So it's kind of muddied myvision in terms of what I want
to do in the future becauseoriginally I was like, well, I'm
gonna, you know, do the coupleof years that I need to and then
move on, but I don't I don'tI'm not ready to move on.
I don't want to yet.
There's things I still want todo here on my campus and in
general.
So I don't, I'd love to get mydoctorate.
I'd love to do it in curriculuminstruction.
(39:59):
There's two programs I'mlooking at.
One is at Texas AM and theother is at the University of
Alabama.
And so I would love to do that.
And then eventually, I don'tknow when.
I I'm not gonna be able toretire for like another 20 or 25
years.
So I've got time, eventuallymove into like maybe district
curriculum.
So that's kind of what I hopeum to be doing in this future.
Principal JL (40:19):
Awesome, awesome.
I really like that.
I really forward to justfollowing your path and your
journey through watching you onTikTok and all those things as
well.
And you know, encourage you togo get that doctor because that
will definitely help you downthe road as well when it comes
to just you know trying to reachyour next step and and your
goals for aspirations personallyand uh professionally as well.
(40:43):
Shannon, we've been talking alot today and we're starting to
wind down here.
If listeners here want to knowmore about you or connect with
you, how can they do that?
Shannon Seale (40:55):
So I'm on I started an Instagram that goes
with the TikTok.
So both of those are atMrs.seal.
So that's pretty simple.
And then they could alwaysemail me.
It's shani.seal at gmail.com.
So those are probably theeasiest ways on the social media
or just by email.
Those are probably the easiestways to get a hold of me.
Principal JL (41:15):
Awesome.
And I'm gonna go ahead and putthat down in the show notes to
make it real easy for people toget in touch with you so they
can learn more about the thingsthat you are doing.
Uh, really appreciate your timetoday.
But before we go, we I trollyou a little bit about college
football.
Shannon Seale (41:33):
I know what you're about to say.
Principal JL (41:35):
I troll you a little bit just because I like
it's just fun.
I think what inspired me tostart trolling you really was
when you put out the TikTokabout what team, I believe it's
what team's gonna set my moodfor the weekend or what college
team is gonna is going to uhmake me happier sad.
(41:56):
Set my mood for the next thing.
So that that that's where I'mlike, well, she might like
college football, so I'm gonnasee what's up with that.
So I troll you a little bit.
So if people don't know orhaven't followed you much, you
know, you are a big collegefootball fan from what I've
learned from trolling you.
So what is your favorite team?
(42:17):
And do you have a favoritecollege football member?
Shannon Seale (42:20):
Um, the Baylor Bears are definitely my team.
I went to Baylor and I was apseudo-net Baylor during what
was arguably the worst fouryears in Baylor football
history, and there have beenmany, but it was it was pretty
bad when I was there.
But I've always been a big fan.
And I I gotta I gotta go backjust a tiny bit and give a shout
out to my dad.
He did pass away five yearsago, but he's the one that got
(42:42):
me interested in football.
We used to have one televisionand he loved watching football,
and so it was either watchfootball with him or do nothing
on Saturday.
So I asked him all thequestions and he taught me all
about it.
And so we would, I rememberactually, this just kind of came
to mind.
I have several favoritememories, but we were playing
(43:03):
because Nebraska used to be inthe Big 12.
When I was in college, Nebraskawas a Big 12 team.
And we were playing Nebraskafor I don't remember if it was
like a parents' weekend or what,but my parents were there and
it started pouring rain.
And my mom got up to run out,like to like go take shelter.
And me and dad are juststanding there, like, what are
you doing?
(43:24):
You're like, it's raining.
It's like, well, yeah, or justit's just water.
Like, where are you going?
Sit down, woman.
And so we we they eventuallyhad to do like a lightning delay
or whatever.
But that was funny, justplaying a team and standing out
in the rain with my dad becausewe we lost horribly, just
Nebraska always beat us reallybadly.
But in 2004, after I graduated,I went to the Texas AM Baylor
(43:49):
game in Waco.
And we haven't we hadn't beatenTexas AM in 20 years or
something ridiculous.
And we won in double overtime.
They went for two-pointconversion, and I was like,
Y'all are crazy, and they gotit, and it was insane.
And let's see what else.
And then probably in 21 won theBig 12 championship, and then
went to the sugar bowl.
(44:09):
My mom and I went to the sugarbowl.
This is hilarious.
My husband is an Alabama fan,which makes him by default a
little annoying in that in thatway.
But he does not like going togames, he would rather sit and
watch from the recliner.
He's like, Why would I go tothe stadium when I could sit in
the recliner and watch?
And I was like, But I want tobe a part of the the craziness
(44:31):
and I want to help yell on thirddown and I want to storm the
field.
I've never stormed the field,but you know, I want to be a
part of all of that.
And so he actually we went toAlabama for Christmas.
We always go and visit hisfamily.
And then on the way home, hedropped me off in New Orleans
and I met my mom there and hekept driving and I went to the
(44:52):
sugar bowl.
So we always laughed about howhe dropped me off in New Orleans
for the sugar bowl and keptdriving.
So it's a little backwards inthat way.
But we won that game and it wasamazing.
So every year, me and my mom goto a game now, and we always
try to pick one of the homegames.
And if there's a bowl game inTexas, usually we'll go.
So I have a lot of greatmemories, but still mad at Coach
Rhule a little bit, but that'sokay.
Principal JL (45:13):
All right, we'll we'll take him for now.
Shannon Seale (45:16):
Yeah, he's good guys.
Principal JL (45:18):
Yeah, we really enjoy having him, to be honest
with you.
When he got hired, I was like,what are we doing?
You know, I had no clue.
I didn't, I didn't really.
I mean, I researched him like,okay, yeah, okay, maybe Temple,
Baylor.
Apparently he wasn't very goodin the NFL.
So what's gonna be differenthere?
And I'll be what the more Ilearned about him, the more he's
(45:42):
interacted with our fan basebecause he's somebody that's
actually gone out and reallyjust got to know Nebraska as a
state.
That means a lot, a lot ofpeople.
And I think, you know, he forwhat we can tell, he really
likes it here.
He's does the podcast now.
And you know, you know,Nebraska, we have resources that
(46:03):
people don't realize we have.
Uh but at the same time, Ithink this is gonna be a fun
year.
It's just, you know, we stubbedour stuff our toe a little bit
against Michigan.
I was at that game, which was alot of fun.
I was the Hail Mary was caughtin the end zone that we were
sitting in, so that was that wasfun to be a part of, but we
(46:24):
lost that game up front.
We didn't, that was just ourour O and D line just couldn't
get the push or get the holesopened up like we needed to.
And with Riaola getting sackedseven times, but still throwing
for 300 yards, prettyimpressive.
You know, and still having likea 74% completion rate.
Yeah, we're not as bad as you'dthink we are.
(46:48):
It's just we gotta make sureour line play gets better, and
then we'll have a shot in thesesome of these bigger games.
So down the road, hopefullythey'll it will it will come to
fruition to where you knowNebraska's, you know, getting
those double digit wins again,like we haven't seen since
probably 2012, maybe 2011,something like that.
(47:09):
When Bull Palini was our coach,was the last time we've had a
double digits win.
And we were still in the Big 12at that time.
So hey Shannon, it was great tohave you on the show today.
I appreciate you.
Do you have anything you'd liketo say before we go?
Shannon Seale (47:25):
I can't think of anything else.
I think I've kind of blurtedout all my thoughts.
Principal JL (47:29):
So yeah, I appreciate you being on the
show.
Have a great day.
Shannon Seale (47:33):
Thank you, bye.
Principal JL (47:35):
What a fantastic conversation with Principal
Shannon Seale.
I love hearing about herjourney from teaching social
studies to leading OdomElementary.
Shannon reminds us that greatleadership is built on
relationships, reflection, andstaying true to who you are.
If you enjoyed this episode,make sure to follow and
(47:56):
subscribe to this podcast so youdon't miss any more inspiring
episodes from school leaderslike this one.
Until next time, remember toalways be curious and one
percent better.
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