Mr. Wright is our principal at Crowther Memorial School. Before I interviewed him it felt like I had to go talk to the principal because I got into a bad situation. But I was soon relieved to see that although he is the principal, he is a friendly guy once you get to know him, and a lot more like us than I ever realized.

I figured we should start at the beginning, so I asked him where he grew up.  He said, “Saskatchewan, in a town called, Unity.”  Skipping ahead a few years, I asked Mr. Wright about where he graduated and he told me, “I graduated from the University of Saskatchewan.”

Since not all of us can relate to being from Saskatchewan, I thought maybe he had big dreams like many of us do.  Now even though I know he loves his job here, I wondered what else might appeal to a man like Mr. Wright, so I asked what his dream job was before he became a principal and he told me “I wanted to play for the Chicago Black Hawks, or be a fireman.”  Heading back to reality, I asked how long he had been teaching at this school and found out that he’s been here for 6 years.

I then decided that it would be interesting to see what a Jr. High principal does for fun after a long day at work.  Mr. Wright responded with, “I like to play golf mostly in Alberta, watch my daughter play hockey, and read Plain Song.” 

Next, I wondered where Mr. Wright would like to escape to after a long school year.  But when I asked him where he would go for the ultimate vacation he had to stop and think with a questioning look on his face, finally he said, “to tour the Mediterranean.”

Now every kid really likes food, so it’s only natural for us to be curious about what our Principal likes to much on.  I asked him about this favorite foods and he said, “I like to eat lasagna, and potato chips.” Just to be clear, he doesn’t eat them at the same time, like some of us might!  The more I talked with Mr. Wright, the more I began to realize how much like us he really is.  Another thing we have in common with Mr. Wright is the need for music to escape the most boring parts of our days.  Turns out, Mr. Wright likes to listen to the radio in his car on his way to and from school.  He said, “I like to listen to different kinds of music, mostly older rock and country.”

When Mr. Wright is at home he is surrounded by women.  Seems like a blessing and a curse!  When I asked him how he felt about being the only guy in his family, he told me, “I do wish there were more guys but it’s still fun being man of the house.”   Even Mr. Wright’s cat is a girl!  “She looks like Sylvester from Looney Tunes, and she is 5 years old.  She tried to catch a bird once.” So for now, it looks like Mr. Wright is outnumbered!

The last thing I wanted to know about our “fearless leader” was what his worst fear is.  I was a little surprised to find out that his worst fear is “drowning in any pool of water.”  Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to swim with a bunch of rowdy teenagers?  
 
So the next time you see our friendly Principal walking down the halls, remember, he’s much like us.  Just don’t sneak up on him in a pool.