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portraits

    »     AMARILLO ISD

S

outhern California screams fun, sun, surf and sand. 
When Superintendent Dr. Dana West stepped off a 

bus there last summer, something was screaming at 
her, but it wasn’t any of that.

 

It was a United States Marine 

Corps drill instructor, as large and intimidating—and as loud--in 
real life as in the movies. 

Dr. West and around 30 other educator recruits had mustered 

on a military base for boot camp activities, obstacle courses, rifl e 
instruction on the “course of fi re” and, to ensure it was authentic, 
that in-their-face drill sergeant experience, at a fi ve-day Marine 
Corps Educators’ Workshop. 

“There is kind of a shock the fi rst 30 minutes, when the drill 

instructor is getting them in formation and yelling at them. That’s 
when he takes off his drill instructor hat and explains the purpose 
of why he is yelling and what the commands are,” says Sgt. Ryan 
Carpenter, a USMC marketing and public affairs representative. 

Dr. West handled the tough talk and everything else thrown at 

her like a champion, says Sgt. Carpenter. “She had a great attitude 
the entire time and really dove head fi rst into the experience,” 
he says. 

The week is designed to give educators a taste of Marine recruit 

life and also reassure them about what they’re sending students 
into when they promote the military as a career choice. “Educators 
take a personal responsibility for these kids,” says Sgt. Carpenter. 

When Dr. West talks to scholars about success beyond high 

school, she always asks, “What’s Your Plan?” The discussion helps 
scholars fi nd their future in career schools, a two-year college, four-
year university or the military. But, it’s the military component Dr. 
West says she’s always felt the least prepared to pitch, which is why 
she enlisted in the Educators’ Workshop.  “I’ve experienced college 
and a four-year university and even career apprenticeships,” says 

Dr. West. “But when I talk about ‘What’s Your Plan?’ I want military 
to be an equal piece in helping our scholars move forward.”

After a conversation with a newly-enlisted recruit, Dr. West took 

away from the week exactly what she went looking for. “He felt at 
his school everyone was talking about college and that in choosing 
the military he was somehow making a lesser choice,” she says. 
“We must make sure when we ask our scholars, ‘What’s Your Plan?’ 
we really focus on the YOUR part, not what we want them to do. 
There should be nothing implied that would rank order choices or 
make a student feel good or bad about his or her plan.

“I thought the military was about discipline,” Dr. West continues. 

“It is about that. But it’s more about the camaraderie that it builds 
and the amount of pride, not only in self, but in our country. It’s 
about making decisions. It’s about leadership. It’s about doing 
the right thing and knowing why you do the right thing. And it’s 
about education. They’re working toward an education that is very 
technical and very specifi c for a need. It’s pretty powerful.”

Superintendent’s Five Days with the USMC 

Provide Unique Perspective

SUMMER OORAH: