It was a super day for some of the township’s super students as they got to experience what it was like to be a superintendent for a day.
The Evesham Township School District recently held its annual “Superintendent for a Day” event, in which four house presidents from the township’s middle schools were invited to follow ETSD Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. for a day to learn what it’s like to run the district.
The day began when the students accompanied Scavelli for classroom visits at Van Zant Elementary School and Rice Elementary School.
“I enjoy a lot of days, but I really enjoy this day and spending time one-on-four if you will with everybody.” Scavelli said. “For me it’s always nice to see them gain perspective and put things together in their head on why things happen the way they happen,” Scavelli said.
Following the elementary school visits, the students spent the rest of their day in the district’s administration building, where they met with the district’s administrators in charge of personnel, curriculum and business.
ETSD Director of Personnel Richard Dantinne spoke to students about issues such as the requirements needed for the district to hire its employees and how the district juggles the responsibility of filling the unexpected absences of district employees on a day-to-day basis.
ETSD Director of Curriculum & Instruction Danielle Magulick talked to students about writing the district’s various subject curriculums, working to integrate technology into the classroom in a meaningful way and keeping teachers up-to-date on the latest teaching techniques.
As for ETSD Business Administer John Reccinti, he outlined the district’s nearly $80 million annual budget to the students, as well as balancing the needs of more than 900 employees and nearly 4,400 students.
As for the students themselves, this year’s “Superintendent for a Day” participants included Ashna Jain, Brian Mitchell, Anton Smolyanyy and Erin St. John.
For Anton, he said he found it interesting just how many responsibilities a district administrator has.
“Their title might say director of curriculum, but there are a plethora of different things that go into their job,” Anton said.
In a related note, Ashna said she was impressed by the coordination needed between staff and committees to accomplish the tasks needed to run the district.
“It was a lot of hard work even though it should seem like it should be simple,” Ashna said.
As for the conclusion of the day’s event, Scavelli treated the students to lunch before they gave up their title of “Superintendent for a Day” and returned to their schools.
And while they would be superintendents no longer, all four students were invited to the district’s board of education meeting last week to also get a glimpse at another important aspect of the district’s operations.
