The Carroll ISD school board approved the creation of a new districtwide, full-time position—a leadership and culture coach for the 2019-20 school year—at its April 15 meeting. The job was created for CISD basketball coach Eric McDade, who stepped into this role during the 2018-19 school year, according to meeting documents. McDade also taught teen leadership—also known as Lead Worthy—classes at Carroll High School. The work McDade has already done for student and teacher development has been invaluable for students and staff, said Matt Miller, assistant superintendent for administrative services. McDade helped train staff and educate students about leadership, character development and resiliency, according to meeting documents. A new position is being created because pulling McDade from his coaching and teaching jobs has created scheduling challenges. As the new leadership and culture coach, McDade will no longer teach Lead Worthy classes but will continue as the basketball coach and the boys athletics coordinator, said Julie Thannum, assistant superintendent for board and community relations. Although there are other Lead Worthy teachers, CISD will hire another teacher to fill the gap McDade leaves behind. McDade has visited and spoken with students from several schools in the spring about issues that concern them, such as diversity and stress, Thannum said. McDade has training in this specific role, and the goal is for him to partner with Superintendent David Faltys to work with students and staff to ensure every student has a positive educational experience in CISD, she said. “He’ll be training teachers, working with students and meeting face-to-face with students,” Thannum said. “We’ve got lots of different ideas we want to do with kids. We want to go in there and talk with them about what it means to be a [CISD] dragon, what changes they would like to see in the school district, what could we do to support [them].” According to the leadership and culture coach job summary, some of the responsibilities include:
  • Writing, coordinating and monitoring a character development curriculum
  • Providing districtwide staff development and related training
  • Coordinating and developing student leadership groups across different grade levels
  • Promoting communications with parents and the community about CISD goals and providing educational outreach and engagement opportunities
  • Identifying trends and techniques in leadership and character development to incorporate into CISD efforts
  • Providing support and services to staff, students, parents and other community members in problem-solving
  • Promoting efforts to foster ideals of leadership and culture in the school district
  • Encouraging professional growth and leadership among CISD personnel