The start to Mundelein High Schools 2024-25 school year has gone as smoothly as possible.
From introducing a brand new phone policy to incorporating one of the largest freshman classes ever into the already overcrowded school, there were quite a bit of issues to work with in order to make the school year run like normal.
However, coming into the year, one would not have been so sure it all would have worked out due to Principal Alexandra Taylor’s absence from the equation. The third year principal began the school year on maternity leave. In her place, Assistant Principal of Student Life Stevee Liebert and Assistant Principal of Operations Michael Souza were both to take on much more responsibilities to fill the void.
Souza, who has taken on a much larger workload during Taylor’s absence, is trying his best to adjust.
“The biggest challenge so far has been the increase of my overall workload,” Souza said. As assistant principal, he already has many responsibilities, however they are more focused and, according to Souza, they “align well with my skills and preferences.” The position of principal requires a much broader range of work and people he needs to work with.
With the switch, not only does he have the responsibilities of a principal, he still has to make sure his duties as associate principal are completed. “There is a lot the principal has to do,” he mentioned, “and, on top of that, I still have to make sure I am completing the tasks assigned to me as the Associate Principal of Operations as well.”
“There have been a lot of people who have reached out to me offering their support while I am in this role,” Souza added. “Everyone is pitching in to help fill Dr. Taylor’s shoes while she is out.”
Stevee Liebert is the other half of the puzzle. She shared that she has worked smarter, not harder, to make the school year run better than ever.
“We have divided the workload based on what made sense for each of our roles,” Liebert explained. This process of dividing the work based on prior skill sets and responsibilities, as touched on by Souza as well, has been their saving grace.
Instead of making “one person do the job of two people” as Liebert put it, they instead share the workload, doing what they can to make sure everything gets done, and that everything gets done well. Playing to each other’s strengths has proven to work much better than just assigning bulk workloads out to one person.
Beyond their strategy for handling the switch, Liebert iterated that their motivation was ironclad. “I think it’s really important that when a colleague takes a leave… that we are supportive and excited for them,” she said.
