Walkin' and Talkin': Caring One Person at a Time (Chair's Corner) (Column‪)‬

I think back to high school and try to remember your principal. What was his/her name? What do you remember most about him/her? Did you ever have the chance to talk with this person (not about something that you were in trouble for)? I'm guessing most of us don't even recall our high school principal, let alone anything significant about them and what they did for us. For the fewer of us that do remember, I'd suspect it was for something we might want to forget. I want to introduce you to the principal you wish you would have had. More than that, this principal is one you wish your children had. He has a lot to teach therapists everywhere about caring, one person at a time. Mike Farley, or Mr. Farley as most of his students know him, is the principal of a very large suburban high school. One of the largest districts in the Minnesota with over 28,000 students, Anoka High School sees 2,400 students pass through its doors each year, is diverse, leads in academics and sports, and is filled with pride. The school's mascot, ironically, is a tornado and for the last two years Anoka High School has been through the storm of its life that has been weathered with the leadership of Mr. Farley. Mr. Farley is not the principal you remember and probably isn't the typical principal buried in administrative paperwork, emails and meetings. Instead, he is out with his students. Present. Available. Interested in them, the good, the bad, and everything in between.