New Bowie Principal Plans to 'Rock' the New Year

Kimberly Seidel grew up in Pennsylvania and earned her undergraduate and master's degree from Slippery Rock University. She began teaching in 1993 in Queen Anne's County. She became an instructional specialist in 2002, and in 2004 she served as assistant principal at Riverdale Elementary School for three years. Before being assigned to Rockledge, Seidel was principal at Greenbelt Elementary School for four years.

Q: What is the biggest difference between being a teacher and an administrator?

Seidel: I think, for me, I can make a bigger difference [as an administrator]. In a classroom, I'm reaching 30, 25 children. As an administrator, I can reach 500 children. I can make a larger impact on the school and community.

Q: In what ways can you make a difference?

Seidel: Just supporting the teachers with things they need, the materials they need to make life easier, supporting in situations with a child and a parent, celebrating their successes, with how hard they work and recognizing their efforts. We’re always trying to make a difference in a child’s life and want them to be scholars and really want them to be the best they can be.

Q: Did you always want to be an administrator?

Seidel: I always saw myself from the beginning wanting to be an administrative principal of a school. I'm not so sure when it started, maybe at my first school, the principal I had, I saw myself being able to do that position.

Q: Is there anything you miss about teaching?

Seidel: I miss my own set of kids, doing activities with my own group of kids. You really get to know them so much deeper than you can with 500 kids. I think really just reaching the challenging kids with reading and math and seeing them grow. ... There are more layers for me to see, seeing that [growth] every day and seeing the same kids in your room, that family. My family is the teachers. I look at them as my kids. They’re my little group.

Q: Who inspired you to be an administrator?

Seidel: Marilyn Carey. She was a phenomenal administrator. She was a strong instructional leader. She had her hands involved in a lot of things. She was very supportive but also able to give a lot of good suggestions to teachers about teaching and ways you can give feedback and improve your craft to make a difference. She was very visible throughout the building.

Q: How would you like your students to view you?

Seidel: They would probably say I’m pretty fair but very consistent with discipline. I expect them to do their homework, follow the rules at school and participate in class ... really taking responsibility of their learning and taking ownership of what they need to take care of. But at the same time, I would be a supporter of what they need to be successful. I would kind of be visible. I wouldn’t be a stranger, someone you saw at the beginning of the day, during the day, end of the day.

Do you want to learn about Teach like a Rock Star?

That’s our theme. We have Rockledge Elementary where teachers teach like rock stars and students rock. Everything’s about that theme. At the welcoming speech, we talked about rocking into a new year. ... I think [it’s important] if you have a theme that really motivates your staff to pull together.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to change about the school?

Seidel: At this point, I’m just going to watch this first year, kind of see how things are working. When you have a successful school, your lenses need to be more of an observation to see what’s working because obviously it’s working.