ST. JOSEPH — Daniel Hernandez’s ascent as Brown Elementary School’s newest principal can be traced back to when he attended grade school. He cites an elementary school teacher for not only altering the way he studied, but how he viewed education as a whole. Having been named principal of the school he previously taught at, Hernandez has hit the ground running in his new role. Hernandez recently sat down with Herald-Palladium Local News Editor Tony Wittkowski to discuss his career path in education.
When did you first start here as principal? This is my first year as principal, so I started officially in July. Before that, I was already kind of kicking off what I was planning to do. As soon as I was announced as principal, I wanted to get acclimated. It was nice to have already taught here, so I knew a lot of the staff and a lot of students.
What did you teach? I taught fourth grade here at Brown. The nice part was having already built up trust with a lot of the staff members and kids. The transition was a lot easier than I expected. How long have you been in education for? I taught for four years here at Brown Elementary School. Before that, I was a para pro at Brown, and then I was actually at Lincoln Elementary School – doing my student teaching. For part of that, I was actually working a lot of summer camps. I always kind of had a knack for it, and really liked education when it came to working with kids. Even when it came to summer camps, I always tried to make them a little bit more academic based. But I’ve always kind of had a push to work with kids. Just seeing that light bulb go off really made me excited. I enjoy seeing how kids can always grow even within a short period of time.
Did you ever see yourself becoming a principal when you first got into teaching? Daniel Hernandez is the new principal at Brown Elementary School in St. Joseph. He cites an elementary school teacher for how he views education as a whole. When I first started as a teacher, I knew that was one thing I was interested in pursuing. I was getting interviewed and actually brought that up. You know how when you’re asked something like, “What’s your goal within five to 10 years?” I can’t remember the exact question, but I know I mentioned that I wanted to be a principal – I wanted to be a leader. Right now, I’m really diving deep into being a principal and really being able to give it my all. Being close to home is such an awesome thing as well.
I know it’s only been two months for you, but what’s your first thought so far as being principal at Brown? It’s been great creating the connections. Also, it’s been eye-opening to see the impact I can have when it’s more than 30 kids in your class. I have a phenomenal staff here with phenomenal kids, and I think the parents are at the core of just being great partners. Along with connecting with the community, I’ve really seen the impact that we can make. I think that’s what makes not just Brown Elementary School, but St. Joseph Public Schools so strong is just having that great foundation from all the aspects we have.
What would you say has been the biggest adjustment moving from teacher to principal? The biggest thing is just me being a talker. Not being able to talk and create those connections I have with every kid has taken some getting used to. It’s now on a different level. On top of that, it’s just the small differences that you’ll notice where you are not having direct grade-level colleagues. But now, I’m leaning against my principal colleagues a lot more. Seeing how we collaborate at a more building level and how it’s all built across the district has been interesting. I think it’s really made me appreciate teaching a lot. Not having a classroom anymore, that’s the biggest difference. I kind of had to do a little bit of purging when I moved from my classroom. I love sock flags and sports stuff, which have ended up in my garage now.
What sort of plans do you have for Brown in the near future? When it comes to Brown, I think the one thing is continuing our work that we’ve been doing. We have a great foundation already built. The previous principals laid the groundwork. So, it’s just making sure we identify what other steps can be put in place to make sure we’re reaching all of our learners.
Was there a teacher that comes to mind who kind of inspired you to go into the same profession? Oh, 100 percent. I’m always gonna say Darcy Waite, who I had in third grade at E.P. Clarke (Elementary School). I had wonderful teachers all throughout my time, but she was the first teacher who saw me for some of my challenges, and she really helped me overcome them. It’s something that I always wanted to push as an educator, that you know, although there’s some challenges, there are ways that we can overcome them. As a student, I had some struggles when it came to spelling and some ELA work. I think her really focusing in on specific things that she could do to help me, but also helping me learn from my peers, was what really connected with me. She allowed me to have that social aspect, just in a constructive way, and really using a lot more cooperative learning structures on how I can actually talk about academics. That’s something I always wanted in my classroom. Our students are all gonna be different. Kids need to socialize as well. It’s about keeping that social and academic balance.
Is there anything interesting or fun that not a lot of people know about you? So, we did Bucks for Brown last week – and this tangent connects to it – but it’s our fundraising event that our PTO helps host. It helps contribute a lot of things like field trips, providing some classroom funds for every single teacher. They’re always backed in with some celebrations and stuff that we do when we reach our goal. For this, we’re gonna do a hot wings challenge, so that’s gonna be my, I guess, reward to the students. I actually love spicy food. My spiciness level is gonna be a lot higher than I think some people are expecting, but I’m up for the challenge. We’ll see what happens.
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