Confessions of an Elementary School Principal – Meril R. Smith | Reviewed by: Liz Konkel, Pacific Book Review

This memoir delivers a collection of memories that Meril R. Smith shares about his time as principal at Edenvale School and the journey he took to get there. Every story featured is authentic and comes from a place of love for teaching and being a principal. These stories showcase a wide range of emotions from humorous anecdotes about kids throwing up to serious stories about a positive change in a run-down community. These stories shine a light on how a school is more than a building but the heart of a community that has a positive impact on the lives of everyone there. Smith includes delightful and heartwarming stories from his wife Barbara, fellow teachers, and former students.

The book weaves from an introduction that explores Smith’s origins in a poor family to failing college – only to start over. These moments set up the essence of the desire that led him to become a teacher and eventually a principal. This book focuses primarily on his time as a principal but each story shared is one that had a deep impact through the smiles, the heart, and the emotion behind it. Each story within the beginning of the book focus on how he started and sets up a tone that’s personal, emotional, and full of heart. The book starts with him as a student teacher in 1964 which weaves into often humorous stories that sum up his experiences. The next parts weave through an overview of different decades with specific stories focused upon, such as his time after the Air Force, a student changing schools, and how a class came together to fix a planetarium.

The book stems from two principles that have guided him, clearly evident in the stories provided: “treat everybody with dignity and respect,” and “heal, repair, and transform the world.” The stories featured at the end of the book highlight just how much these two principles played a part in the lives he encountered. These Edenvale memories are sweet and genuine stories from various teachers and students with each sharing the same basic message: the impact the school had on them and how Smith brought change to a run-down community. Among those stories is Barbara Forkash Smith who shares a few of her delightful moments as a teacher such as a student telling her that she has fat legs and returning from a field trip without a student. Each voice included is an example of the community that Smith highlights as part of Edenvale’s identity.

Humor is the basis for most of the stories with each one coming from a place of heart – such as talking about his Miss Wiggins type of secretary and misunderstanding the pronunciation of a child’s name. Smith creates a balance with some of the stories having a serious tone such as focusing on the time when the school was in a bad shape with drugs and crime everywhere in the neighborhood, and the first experience he had with school shooting drills. This led to a shift as they fought for change in what is described as the best years of his career where they established a positive environment and won the cleanest school contest. Life lessons are scattered throughout at the end of various stories which feature profound tidbits that include learning to listen, seeing through the eyes of others, and good teachers are lifelong learners.

Sketches can be found throughout with a playful art style and match the tone of stories while also adding to the humorous aspect of the collection overall. Confessions of an Elementary School Principal is a charming, honest, and endearing collection of stories that focus on heart, community, and change.

Source: https://www.pacificbookreview.com/confessions-of-an-elementary-school-principal/