South School Fifth Grader is Principal for the Day

Andrew Chiang skipped class on Wednesday and spent much of the day in the principal’s office.

But the fifth grader at the wasn’t in trouble. He was the principal—for the day.

Chiang won a raffle drawing to be principal for the day at the South School’s on Sunday, Oct. 23. He spent the following Wednesday, Oct. 26, shadowing full-time principal Maureen Mulvey and seeing what the job entailed—everything from greeting parents and students at drop-off to analyzing MCAS scores.

Chiang said the experience was “really awesome.”

“My friends were really surprised and the teachers called me Mr. Chiang,” he said.

As most elementary school children might do if made principal for the day, Chiang gave the students extra recess, but he had to ask the faculty first, just as Mulvey herself would have to do before making a school-wide schedule shift.

The teachers signed off on the request.

While a principal wouldn’t usually play at recess, Chiang made an exception and joined in on the fun with his classmates.

Prior to recess, Chiang and one of his friends, fellow fifth grader Evan Gibb, were treated to a lunch from McDonald’s in the principal’s office.

But the day wasn’t all fun and games—although one added perk was that Chiang did not have to make up any work he missed that day in class.

“I wanted to expose him to the different responsibilities [a principal has],” Mulvey said. “Knock on wood it was a quiet day; things never slow down.”

Chiang and Mulvey started off the day greeting parents and students and making sure the drop-off process went smoothly. They visited all the classrooms, observing a reading lesson in fifth grade, a play about the water cycle in third grade, and even taking in band practice.

They supervised the cafeteria at lunch and Chiang quieted down the students when they became too noisy.

He also sat in on an assessment of a new teacher, a follow-up of Mulvey’s teacher observation session from the day before. And, he joined Mulvey and an intern from Stonehill College, who works at the school for six hours a week, in going over data analysis for .

“He was taking it all in [and] coming out of his shell,” as the day progressed, Mulvey said.

At the Pumpkin Patch students had the opportunity to enter a number of raffles for a chance to win a dodgeball game with a group of students and teachers, the chance to have lunch with a teacher, and the chance to be principal for the day, among other choices.

Chiang put one ticket in the raffle to win the dodgeball game, but five in for the chance to be principal. He enjoyed his experience, but after a full day on the job, he still wants to be a lawyer when he grows up.

“I want to be a defender,” he said. “I want to help people.”