Principal Brings Brand New Funk

By Patricia Mazzei, The Miami Herald

Oct. 25–A month into the school year, Martin Reid was found on YouTube, dancing to Soulja Boy’s Crank That at a pep rally.

Yes, that’s him, clad in red and black and doing a split on the cellphone-quality video. And no, Reid, Southridge Senior High’s new principal, is not embarrassed.

It’s part of his philosophy, christened by teachers during his years as a school administrator in Broward County as P.I.M.P.: Principal who Inspires and Motivates People.

"If you inspire and motivate people, ultimately education will come," said Reid, a graduate of Florida A & M University who started out interning as a kindergarten teacher and working in fifth-grade classrooms.

Now Reid, who was principal at Homestead Middle School last year, has taken on what he calls "the ultimate high school job" of heading up Southridge, a school of 3,450 students and 300 staff and faculty in Cutler Ridge.

Southridge was recently named an "F" school by the state, and Reid says he is battling the perception that his school is unsafe.

In a 2006-07 school climate survey conducted by the Miami-Dade County Schools, 77 percent of Southridge students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "Violence is a problem at my school," compared to the 28 percent average of students from all senior highs responding to the survey.

When asked if Southridge was safe and secure, 40 percent of parents and 57 of staff members agreed or strongly agreed with the statement — compared to 75 percent of parents and 84 percent of staff members for all senior high schools.

"If you don’t have discipline, safety and security, instruction will not occur. Learning will not occur," said Reid, a Homestead resident who collects G.I. Joes and says his biggest regret is never serving in the military. "I am a disciplinarian — I can be quite mean."

Reid, 37, hired additional security staff — the maximum the district would allow — for the school year. He created an anonymous tip box for students to leave him handwritten notes. And they do, in torn notebook paper, for anything from hallway and locker problems to asking for help for personal problems.

But Reid, a native of Live Oak, a small town between Tallahassee and Jacksonville, has also focused on bringing a positive, upbeat tone to Southridge by doing things like praising specific teacher and student projects in his daily shout-outs over the school’s P.A. system.

"We’re having fun teaching again," said Paul Lobeck, the school’s debate, film and TV production teacher whose feelings were echoed by other instructors. "There’s this new feeling in the air — we’re rejuvenated."

While Reid said administrators and teachers don’t talk about "the scarlet letter," its failing grade from the state, he also said he wants to bring prestige back to the school and improve to at least a "C" grade by next year.

In September, the principal held an "FCAT Chat," explaining the test to students while they had their scores in front of them in an effort to get kids to take the test — and their education — more seriously.

That’s also when Reid started his dance-off challenge: If he beat the school’s best dancers in Friday pep rallies, then he would earn the right to go to classrooms and expect higher participation and better work from students.

"If you respect the kids, they will respect you," said Reid, who won the challenge.

The deal worked, said Chris Wellons, a 17-year-old senior.

"He gives us an incentive to be here," Wellons said. "A lot more kids are participating — in spirit week and in testing. It’s a lot better than it’s been."

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