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Valley Catholic School President - Q & A

Listed here are some of the questions posed to Mr. Weber during the interview process for the new Valley Catholic School President. His responses are also available to read and are listed after each question.

  1. Briefly tell us why you want to be the President of Valley Catholic School and, if selected, how you would spend your first week on the job. Please also outline your plan for the following six weeks.
  2. What is your personal definition of a Catholic education and how would you, as President, shape Valley Catholic School’s role in its delivery?
  3. How would the people you supervise describe your leadership and communication styles?
  4. Describe your experience in developing and strategically implementing a plan to attain a specific goal.
  5. Please describe a crisis situation that you have had to manage. How did you approach the situation and what did you learn from the crisis?
  6. Please tell us what you believe you are particularly good at doing?

Briefly tell us why you want to be the President of Valley Catholic School and, if selected, how you would spend your first week on the job. Please also outline your plan for the following six weeks.

My interest in becoming the President of Valley Catholic School centers on the opportunity to play a significant role in continuing the tradition of excellence established for the past 120+ years by the Sisters of St. Mary. During my four years at Valley Catholic, I learned a great deal about Valley Catholic School, and I would relish the chance to take a leadership role in this community. I believe my experience, skills, and determination make me an excellent candidate for this position.

During the first week on the job, I will make it my top priority to circulate around the campus and meet the people who make up Valley Catholic. A key to success in this position will be establishing strong, effective relationships with a variety of people, including administrators, staff, faculty, students, benefactors, and parents at Valley Catholic.

The six weeks that follow will provide additional opportunities to learn about the structure of the school system at Valley Catholic. This time will also allow me the opportunity to discuss with the Board of Directors and the President of the SSMO Ministries Corporation what they see as the most pressing tasks for me as the new President of Valley Catholic School. It will be important to learn about the current system before finalizing plans on how to move forward. It is my belief that successful leadership comes from team building, communication, and having a vision for the future. This vision will begin to take shape in the first six weeks on the job.

What is your personal definition of a Catholic education and how would you, as President, shape Valley Catholic School’s role in its delivery?

I attended Central Catholic in the 1980s and it has had a lasting impression on me. My entire 17 years in education has been spent working in Catholic middle and high schools as a teacher, coach, and administrator.

To me, a Catholic education provides a student with a solid academic background within a Catholic values-based community that celebrates and promotes service, excellence, and opportunity. My experience in Catholic schools has helped me realize the significant challenge that schools face and the importance that faith development plays in this process.

As the President of Valley Catholic School, I see my role as the person who helps create a school community where this is the expectation. I will have the vision to make this possible and the ability to carry out the necessary steps in the process of creating, adapting, and maintaining this environment.

How would the people you supervise describe your leadership and communication styles?

The people I supervise would describe both my communication and leadership styles as supportive, positive, and professional. During my time as an administrator, I have worked hard to provide people with the necessary support and guidance to help them be successful. I consider myself a consensus builder who understands that each person may approach things in a different manner, but that success comes best working together toward a common goal. In addition, the people I supervise would say that I am a good listener and skilled at working with a variety of people with different personality styles.

Describe your experience in developing and strategically implementing a plan to attain a specific goal.

For many years, Blanchet has been working on adding sixth grade to our school. Throughout this process, I have had a significant role in making this possible by working with my boss, the Archdiocese of Portland, and the local Catholic grade schools. During the 2008-2009 school year, our school was given permission by the Archdiocese to open a sixth grade class beginning this fall.

After receiving permission to open a sixth grade, I led our school through the process to make sure we were ready for our first sixth grade class this fall. This process included developing a budget for the program, promoting our new program, creating the curriculum for the courses, and hiring a teacher. I was able to complete these tasks by conducting research, visiting with professionals in the same field, and taking part in professional development opportunities. Our goal of a sixth grade has been reached this year with a successful group of 25 students who have enjoyed a productive school year.

This is just one example of many experiences I have had in my current position with creating budgets, allocating resources, and developing curriculum.

Please describe a crisis situation that you have had to manage. How did you approach the situation and what did you learn from the crisis?

In December 2008, our school was directly impacted by the bombings at a bank in Woodburn. Both of the men who were killed by those blasts were fathers of Blanchet students.

I vividly recall receiving this tragic news on a Friday night, just minutes before a home basketball game was to begin. During that evening, I was responsible for putting the initial steps of our crisis plan into action, including notifying one of the students about their father being fatally injured in the bombing. My approach in this situation was to help our school community cope with this tragic event as well as possible. I arranged for counselors to work with our students, helped prepare our faculty to assist our students in dealing with the tragedy, and acted as a liaison with the families in the time after the bombing.

This incident really helped me realize the importance of having a school community that communicates well and supports each other. In addition, the crisis plan that I helped create was very helpful in handling this crisis. The fact that Blanchet is strong in these areas made it possible for us to make it through a very trying situation.

Please tell us what you believe you are particularly good at doing?

My strengths lie in the areas of communication, problem solving, and the management of personnel. I used to think that those traits could be summarized by saying, “I have good people skills,” but now I know that it is more than just people skills. In my 13 years as an administrator, I have come to realize that being able to communicate with all types of people and being able to solve all kinds of problems are essential skills for success because they apply to every facet of my job. I am a positive person that people enjoy working with and for on a daily basis.