Volunteers at 95 Guilford County schools spent Tuesday morning shadowing leaders to glimpse a typical school day. The annual event, sponsored by the Guilford Education Alliance, is meant to increase community engagement with public schools. The experience helps to counter negative perceptions of public schools, said Winston McGregor, the interim executive director of the Guilford Education Alliance. Visiting a school also gives a sense of what’s accomplished “despite some really significant odds,” she said.
At Johnson Street Global Studies, Jane Caplanides cried as she listened to students sing “The Greatest Love of All.” As she listened, Caplanides thought, “more grown-ups need to witness this.”
“It was so beautiful, so sweet.”
At Grimsley, Raj Garud shadowed Principal Greg Newlin as he met with students. The two talked in the halls about what they observed: The first year math teacher had good control of her classroom. The adults in one classroom were giving extra help to students with disabilities.
Garud noticed how much Newlin interacted with students.
“This is a people business,” Newlin said.
