Surrounded by a committee of 10 adults, junior Sonya Richard helped with the selection process to hire a new West Potomac principal.

“It was really exciting because I’m the only student representative,” Richard said. “It’s kind of cool to have an opportunity that puts you in the professional world. I got to see what an interview process was like and that was really exciting.”

In her first year of leadership class, Richard appreciates the chance to give back to her school.

“I thought it was a cool opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the school and to be a part of something that leaves good leadership behind.”

It was in leadership class where Richard learned about the principal selection committee.

“Even though student leadership is the only part of our school, it’s nice to know that I’ll have a hand in some of the adult leadership,” Richard said. “It was also exciting to feel like I was in that adult environment and learning how everything works.”

Richard values this selection and knows the lasting impact a principal can have on a school.

“I think that principals have to do a lot with the morale of the school,” Richard said. “It’s really important that this new principal coming in will be really excited. We need to work with them to take that excitement and put it towards something.”

Richard has high expectations for our next principal.

“[Our next principal should be] passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic.”

However, the level of success in the introduction of new leadership doesn’t fall on the new principal alone.

“Everyone definitely needs to have an open mind with a new principal coming in,” Richard said. “They won’t necessarily know our school, so we have to be very welcoming and show them our best selves. So they can know what changes and parts of the school they want to help grow.”