Principal of THS: Room for improvement?
By reading this title, you probably already have a hint and know who this week’s blog is going to be about. But if you haven’t caught on yet, this week’s blog will be about Mrs. Tutuila Togilau, Tafuna High School’s very own principal.
I started out by interviewing several Tafuna High School students about their take on Mrs. Togilau. I asked very basic questions, however, the responses I received were, indeed, the opposite of basic. There were, of course, the pile of negative inputs, which I chose to omit, from the students. I decided not to insert all the unnecessary comments being made about her, for they were more “butthurt feelings” than actual valid arguments. I, also, made this decision being, the fact, that she is still our principal and deserves our respect, regardless of any issues. (1 Peter 2:17) With that being said, in today’s blog, I only selected the response that, I believe, was of significance and should be shared.
“Why do you think students find it difficult to respect Togilau as their principal?”, was the question given to James.
“I actually think it’s because of the decisions she makes on her own. For example, just yesterday, our JV boys basketball championship game was held at our gym. And because the crowd became a bit too rowdy during the game, she publicly announced on the bulletin that, due to “unacceptable behavior”, no Tafuna High School student was to show at the varsity boys championship game held at Samoana’s gym. Look, I know throwing a shoe on the court during the game was disrespectful, but come on man, what do you expect? There’s bound to be some type of misbehavior at a CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. But to make the decision, to keep all our fans from coming to our varsity game? It made us, as a team, feel as if she didn’t even care about us. And then, come to find out, that she made the decision on her own, and that most of the office was actually against the whole “forbidding kids from going” thing. It may seem unimportant to majority of the people who don’t play sports, but man, you guys don’t understand how, for some of us, this will probably be the highlight of our high school lives. It was just really discouraging to find that our own principal banned our students from showing up to the game, when Samoana’s players were actually excused from class periods today to prepare for the game. I don’t know, I guess, it’s hard to respect the things she cares for, when she’s doesn’t even respect the things we students care for.”
- James Williamson, THS student athlete
As a student athlete, I, myself, actually did realize, in my early months of high school, that Principal didn’t really care for sports. But, I didn’t really take much thought into it, being that she is principal and she probably has more pressing matters to handle. However, after hearing James’ story, I have come to realize that this actually is an issue for some students. I’m pretty sure Togilau is not aware of how she made the boys feel after putting that in the bulletin. Thankfully, a large crown of students still showed to the game to support our varsity boys’ team.
I didn’t write this blog to bash our principal or say she’s not doing her job well. On the contrary, I think she is a fine principal and has been doing her job for the past three years I’ve been at Tafuna High School. However, I do believe, just as the rest of us, there is always room for improvement. We have to understand that she is also human and just because she’s principal, that does not mean she is going to be perfect. So, in the years to come, I do hope she alters her behavior towards school sports.
PS I have been using fake names in all my blogs to shield these students’ real identity due to privacy purposes. So in all my future blogs, you will still be seeing the last name Williamson. It all just isn’t one family.
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