Adviser Update Adviser Update Spring 2017 | Page 29
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they wait to speak with her the
next day before they jumped to
conclusions.
His departure was followed
by absolute silence. In that
moment, I witnessed six
teenagers transform into young
adults.
They were not assured. They
were not satisfied. Their
mountain became taller.
The next morning, Thursday,
March 16, the students spoke
with Amy Robertson during
a conference call with the
superintendent present. Before
the call began, he stated he
would ask the questions and
they could ask follow-up
questions. At his request, I sat
in on the conversation. It lasted
almost two hours.
This had not been the
arrangement discussed, but the
students did not speak up out
of fear of being disrespectful.
Despite my concerns, I followed
their lead because it was their
interview.
Robertson’s answers were not
simple and the information
could not be verified. Even
though the interview did not go
as the students had planned, it
still fulfilled their needs.
The mountain had become
steeper because during the
conversation, many explanations
and answers did not add up.
Every question resulted in an
anecdote, not a direct answer
with locations or names.
Once again, the superintendent
told the students to not worry.
They were assured he would not
put the district at risk. He stated
he had Robertson’s transcripts
and the information had
been evaluated by the Kansas
Department of Education and
Pittsburg State University. He
told the students they had all of
their answers.
The students scheduled a
follow-up interview with the
superintendent for later that
afternoon.
The same assurances were
repeated at the meeting. The
superintendent encouraged
the students to write “a nice
introductory article” and reserve
judgment until she arrived in a
few weeks.
Nevertheless, they persisted to
climb the mountain.
The students left for spring
break. On Friday, March 17,
students did not have school
but the high school had parent-
teacher conferences. The
superintendent scheduled a
staff meeting for early Friday
morning.
The same assurances were
repeated to the the staff.
Teachers asked questions. The