By Mary O’KEEFE

From health care to law enforcement, on Tuesday leaders in local industry took the reins of principal at local public schools – if only for a few hours.

Principal for a Day is a program established in Glendale in 1992 by the Glendale Educational Foundation (GEF). The organization invited local leaders in industry to shadow principals at Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) public schools. 

“Principal for a Day allows community leaders to gain firsthand insight into the daily operations of a school, fostering a deeper understanding of the challenges and successes students and staff face. This understanding strengthens the connection between the school and the wider community while potentially leading to increased support and collaboration for the wonderful work done by GUSD teachers and staff,”according to the GEF website.

This allows “guest principals” to learn about the school campus and see teachers in action. They also get the opportunity to talk to students; many guest principals read books to the younger elementary students and talk about their career to other upper grade students. 

And this year Fremont Elementary School had a very special four-legged guest principal – Brisket from the Glendale Police Dept. Brisket is a facility dog that was trained by Canine Companions. The dog, that is more like a part of the GPD family, provides comfort to victims and witnesses during interviews and court proceedings, helps victims process grief and loss, lowers tension and stresses of community members and staff after traumatic events, works with children to build relationships, conducts senior citizen visits and welfare checks and engages with the community during public events. Brisket, along with handler [and friend] GPD’s Amy Tate, has a very busy schedule but always finds time for outreach events, especially if there are children involved. 

At an afternoon lunch hosted by the GEF, Dr. Darneika Watson, GUSD superintendent, Dr. Ingrid Gunnell, GUSD board president and Manuel Magpapian, GEF president addressed the lunch crowd. 

School principals and guest principals then had the opportunity to take the mic and briefly talk about their experiences. Most temporary principals spoke about the dedication shown students by principals and teachers at the schools they attended. Most were surprised at how the principals seemed to know the names of all of their students.

Other guest principals included: City Commissioner Alek Bartrosouf at Clark Magnet High School, Glendale City Councilmember Dan Brotman and Sona Tatiyants founder, Lynk Law at Hoover High, Rima Cameron, Cameron Foundation, at CV High School, OJ Jaramillo, manager of Friar Tux, at Daily High, Molly Burke, executive director Montrose Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce and Ernesto Rafael Jr., sports director of the YMCA of the Foothills at Glendale High, Marineh Tchakerian, ServiceTitan, director of production management, at Roosevelt Middle School, Kris Kohlmeier, retired educator, at Wilson Middle School, Lilit Harutyunyan, board chair of Glendale Arts, at Rosemont Middle School, Adam Franko, VP of operations at YMCA of the Foothills, at Toll Middle School, Jennie Quinones Skinner, GCC Guild, at Balboa Elementary School, Gevorg Grigoryan, NextGen Vision Inc., at Cerritos Elementary, Glendale City Councilmember Elen Asatryan scheduled at Columbus Elementary, Irma Villegas, PAK Realty & Kiwanian, at Dunsmore Elementary, Angie Barajas and Samantha Villanueva of Subaru of Glendale at Edison Elementary, Ramirez Pedro, Comprehensive Community Health director, at Franklin Elementary, Paul Nasi a planning advisor at Forest Lawn, at Glenoaks Elementary, Shant Kevorkian, Dignity Health, at Jefferson Elementary, GPD Capt. Jason Ross at La Crescenta Elementary, Manuel Magpapian, attorney, at Lincoln Elementary, Kristi Cohen, USC VHH human resources, at Marshall Elementary, Betsy Hart, CEO Dignity Health Glendale and CVW’s publisher Robin Goldsworthy at Horace Mann Elementary.