“Hiring for Heart” with Savannah Steger 

Please note, this transcript is generated by AI and may include some errors. 

Spencer Payne: All right, here we are with more front of the class, real stories from real educators today, joined by Savannah Steger. And Savannah, to those in the education profession, how do you introduce yourself? What do you say that it is that you do and you're working on these days?

Savannah Steger: Good morning, Spencer. My name is Savannah Steger. I am an elementary school principal administrator. I worked in a suburb south of Charlotte, North Carolina at a school. I have worn lots of different hats during my educational journey, which I'm sure we can get into, but super proud principal here today. We a school, we have about 750 students.

Spencer Payne: And with the wearing of different hats, can you maybe paint us a picture of where you started in this profession to the meandering path? Maybe there was too many at one point, maybe you kind of got back to one, to principle. Can you help us understand kind of that flow in your career arc?

Savannah Steger: Sure.

Yeah, sure. I had a, I guess, comparative to others, a pretty quick journey to where I am today. taught, I've taught in two different schools. No, I've taught in three different schools. I've taught two different grade levels. I started by teaching kindergarten. And then I moved to a new school and taught third grade, taught third grade for maybe three or four years there. And then our district is rapidly growing. And so we opened a new elementary school. I had the opportunity to move to that school and kind of be part of the inaugural staff. So I moved there, taught third grade there. And during that process was getting my educational leadership degree because I had kind of decided I wanted to pursue something else.

So I taught third grade maybe three years there and I had an interview for an assistant principal position that came open in our school district. I took that job. I was an assistant principal for three years. And this school that I'm currently at was being opened again due to all the growth. And so my first interview for the principalship and here I am five years later.

Spencer Payne: Incredible. Alright, so assistant principal for three years, principal now for five years. Thank you. And what, if you could help us understand what drew to this profession in the first place? Is this one of those stories of I was teaching my stuffed animals at age five? Is this a career change? Maybe thought you were gonna do something else, change in college? What drew to this profession in the first place?

Savannah Steger: Yep, pretty quick. Yes.

A little bit of both. I definitely was that person who was teaching my stuff animals. My best friend up the street growing up, her mom was a teacher and it was back in the days where they had the teacher manuals and so her mom would bring home her books and we would play school all the time. However, I bucked that pretty hard for a while. I actually started school for broadcast journalism and so I decided I wanted to pursue that when I went to college. I did that for a year and a little more and then as I kind of traveled on that journey a little bit. I felt like I still just had this calling as much as I didn't want to admit it of going into education. So I ended up transferring. will not, I'll be honest, I transferred, I wanted to do elementary education, which in our state was certifying a U for grades second through sixth grade.

However, our state offered a student loan forgiveness program for areas of need and early childhood education was on the critical area list, which certified you for kindergarten through third grade. So I always kind of went into it thinking I would want uppers, even middle or high at some point. However, I was trying to be fiscally responsible and I took that student loan forgiveness program, did early childhood and ended up falling in love with the babies and so, ended up finishing my degree there. I did fiddle around in some different master's classes trying to decide. I thought maybe I would want to pursue like a master's in literacy or reading or some area of specialty. But as I did different roles on the grade level, grade level chair, took some leadership positions at our school, I really wanted to kind of maximize my reach and felt like I had something to offer. And so I went into administration.

Spencer Payne: Thank you. And incentives do work from what it sounds like right there. Student loan forgiveness, thought I teach older kids, then oh my gosh, you're offering what? Actually, do you recall out of curiosity what that student loan forgiveness plan looked like? For example, is this, know, hey, 10 grand of student loans, forgivable, forgiving two years? Like, do you recall any of the high level terms of what that incentive looked like?

Savannah Steger: Yes, yes, that's right.

I am probably going to butcher it. However, there was something like if there were two areas, so there is a critical need, like a geographic need if you teach in a critical need area, and there's also a critical subject area. So you could double your amount of forgiveness by teaching in both a critical subject area and a critical geographic area, or one or the other. I want to say they, I'm probably going to get this wrong, but I want to say they forgave like a certain dollar amount per year and then every year you taught that chunk just came off your total

Spencer Payne: Yeah, incredible. And one last quick question, if you recall, do you recall, where did you find out about this state level federal level work like for those who might be like, I can do that. Where might people find out more about this program?

Savannah Steger: Yeah, that was a state, it was a state level program at the time. I'm sure it's still out there given that we are still searching for teachers everywhere. So I would definitely contact the financial aid office at whatever university and see what your options are.

Spencer Payne: Perfect, thank you. Well, now we're talking in administration for the last eight years, assistant, principal, principal. Can you maybe share a little advice, especially because you spent time as a teacher before, now you're on the other side, so to speak, of maybe for newer teachers, how, if at all, should they pursue talking to you to be on the same page with the administration to get the most out of what you're trying to give them. Maybe what are some tips and tricks of how to partner if you're a young teacher with the administrative side, what to do and maybe what also not to do. What are some things that you've seen really effective teachers do well or not do well?

Savannah Steger: Yeah, what not to do is be scarce. We are all people. We have all walked in the teacher's shoes or in some role in a school. Something has brought us here. And so one of the things that I am really a stickler on is hiring the best people. And so I feel like that changes schools and we always hire for heart.

So that's something you can't coach, can't teach. And so I truly believe that if you're working with me, and hopefully if anyone is in this profession, they have a heart for kids and want to see them succeed. And I believe that really everything stems from communication and relationships. So for me, I always like to schedule meetings, especially for my new teachers and just know who they are as people. But I think sometimes I can remember being in the teacher's shoes just being scared of administration. But really and truly, I mean, we go home at night and cook dinner and go to sleep just like everybody else. It's much more of, we just have relationships. think, what are your interests and hobbies inside school and outside of school? Who makes up your family and your friends and your support system? What are your goals for this year? How can I support you?

So I really feel like when that...that wall is up between teachers and the administrators. think that kind of the students can feel that. And so really, we're all here for the same thing. We're all here to put children first and to make sure that they are becoming the best little people that we can make them. And so I really just think it goes back to that relationship and communication, having those frequent, not all, they don't all have to be long, even quick check ins, but just just talking.

Spencer Payne: Uh, and I think you alluded to a couple of these, those things, getting to know your teachers as a person, just talking proactively, having those one-on-one conversations. So that may, that may be the answer here, but anything else you can share around, you know, uh, what are things that you saw the administration do well when you were teaching that made me think, Oh, I want to do more of that.

Or what are some things that maybe you have uniquely done to try to, to try to bring down those walls based on maybe how you didn't want to do it based on how you saw others acting as administrators. So maybe what have you been able to steal, so to speak, from those who you thought did it really well? And yeah, what are you uniquely doing that maybe you always wanted to see your administration do and now you're in position to be able to do it?

Savannah Steger: I think that's a really great question. When I think back to the most effective administrators I have, I've had the opportunity to work with over the year. feel like they always, there was just something about them that you knew, you're gonna hear me say it a lot, but that heart piece, right? And so they know you believe them, right? So when they talked, it meant something. They motivated me, I trusted them.

I think that's a really big key that whether I liked the decision or whether it was easy for me at the time or whether I understood it or disagreed with it, I knew it was coming from a place of trying to do what they felt was best. And so I think that I have tried to take that with me. also, I think this answers your question in both ways.

I think it's really important to have administrators who are knowledgeable in instruction. It would always, it could feel frustrating receiving critical feedback or suggestions or things like that from someone who hasn't necessarily walked the walk and isn't willing to learn and grow alongside of you. And so I think that instructional leadership here at our school now is something I'm really proud of.

They know we'll jump in. We have assistant principals who lead intervention groups. We're ready to learn and jump in right alongside them, participate in coaching cycles, work in groups with kids, just really being lifelong learners.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And anything we're recording this now, kind of the end of May, we're almost near the end of the school year. Is there anything that you are really looking forward to maybe in the next two weeks or maybe the next two, three, four, five, six months as you prepare for the next school year? So you pick your timeframe, which might just be, my gosh, this is the crazy time. I can't wait for summer. But yeah, what, anything, are you really looking forward to in your role over the next two weeks to six months? You pick the timeframe.

Savannah Steger: Yes.

You know, I was, we're actually out of school. we ended, so it's, yeah, it's, we ended a little early this year and we're, our school district is embarking on a new school calendar for the upcoming year. So I'm really excited about that. It's prioritizing just some additional breaks in the middle of the year. So we have a little bit of a shorter summer, but have more break times for teachers built in to the year. They have a week in October, a week in February, in addition to all of our normal.

Spencer Payne: Okay.

Savannah Steger: standard breaks, is amazing. I think that will do wonders for the mental health of the grownups and the children in the building. But I, like I said, I've been here for five years. And this, this job, this building that we've been in, I started in COVID. So I've had a really unique, really unique experience in my principalship here. And so this, past week, I guess, two weeks, we had our fifth graders reach their fifth grade promotion. And so they are getting ready to go into middle school next year. And this is really, you know, every class that comes up, we've spent more time with them. So this has been five years with some of these kids. This upcoming year will be our first group that has come through kindergarten through fifth grade. So I found myself kind of, guess, chuckling at myself a little bit.

Two weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch, my husband and I, had put our son down and I was so emotional and that's not me. But I was looking at pictures and thinking about these kids that you spend so much time with and you just pour into and you see grow up and then they go. They fly the nest, they go to the next school where I know all these teachers and administrators are gonna do equally amazing things with them. it's hard, it's hard. You grow these attachments and connections and then they leave. It's hard, it's beautiful.

It's why we do what we do. But it's really special getting to have our first group go all the way up. I'm both dreading in a little bit of a way and super excited for next year just for that purpose.

Spencer Payne: Well, thank you for sharing that incredibly one of those classic bittersweet moments like super proud and also super sad at the exact same time. You mentioned changing the school calendar. Can you get into a little bit of how that happened, why that happened? Is that all you, how much do you have to work with, you know, as a public school with the state? Like, is that mandated? Is that done in a way that's kind of, hey, here's what our teachers are wanting? Okay, well, we'll consider that if you do this. Like, how does something like that end up actually happening and how much

Savannah Steger: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Spencer Payne: Do you have a hand in being able to proactively kind of make what seems very simple, but I'm sure is logistically a massive challenge to do something like that.

Savannah Steger: Yeah, I think that's a huge misconception is that people think building administrators really have more to do with that than we do. Our district offices has an amazing department and kind of some people who work on calendars, our school board has to approve it. In our state we do there were some laws and provisions in which you can't start school before the first Monday in August, I think is what it was or I can't remember the specific provision but

So they've been working for a while and there's always that that tough summer. So last year was that for us. We had a really short summer so we could start early in order to be able to end early to have a decent amount this year. the the department at our district office usually puts together a few drafts and they present those to the school board. The school board then receives public feedback. So the public is able to comment and offer suggestions.

There's a lot that goes into the school calendar. I mean, you have obviously things that are really important to me as an elementary school principal, which is, you know, teacher burnout, student burnout, state testing, all of those things are really important. You then have the high school side, which are worried about balance semesters. When can they get exams in before or after winter break? When is graduation? So there's a lot of different moving parts. So kudos to our district office for managing all of that and creating a calendar that keeps all levels happy. But I'm excited about this one. I think it will give families some nice time. You sometimes it can be hard to get all of your travel in for the 10 weeks of the summer. So this gives a little bit of breathing room, a fall break, just like a college has a winter break in February. And so I think I looked yesterday, the longest stretch we have without a little bit of a break next year is six weeks. So that's awesome.

Spencer Payne: Hmm. Yeah, there's always a little break around the corner that helps a lot. That helps a lot. Well, I'd love to hear more and some of these can still be in the administrative side, but also maybe these stories are gonna be more when you were teaching. I'd love to break into some more fun, memorable, maybe wild, craziest stories in the classroom. is there anything that strikes you that comes to the top of just proudest moments in this profession? Just something that still makes you smile or something that maybe, you can tell 40 years from now, you'll look back like that was a really special moment. So anything really come up to the top for you.

Savannah Steger: I think the proudest moment I have ever had is during COVID. The schools had shut down and we did, a lot of schools did them, but we did one of the car chains when we all, all the teachers and staff met at the school and we were socially distant and we decorated our cars and made posters looking for specific kids and we did a route and we drove by every single house, by every single student.

So we didn't just do the big neighborhoods, we did every single home that was lived in by one of our kids. And we drove a whole train, it took forever and it was incredible. Every single family was out on their lawn, the kids were out there seeing their teachers, the people who met the most of them. But it was just, it was a really abrupt stop and obviously something none of us had ever experienced before.

But being able, again, it's your why, right? It's why do we do this? And it's them. And so all of the attendance and tardies and grades and tests and lesson plans all went out the window and it was really just about the people. And that is the core of what we do. And so being able to see teachers show up and kids know that their teachers love them and we're gonna go and do that for them. It was one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And I'm sure logistical and organizational nightmare that I'm sure before you're like, are we really going to do this? This is so that the end you're like, I'm so glad we did that. Yeah. Incredible. How about anything that maybe you consistently did in your teaching career that seemed to really work really well for you? And maybe you're surprised more teachers didn't do that, that thing or those things that seem to work really well when you were in the classroom, like anything that you really did consistently that was just a

Savannah Steger: Yeah, it was amazing.

Spencer Payne: Again, just worked really well for you.

Savannah Steger: I teaching is such an interesting job because the people you work with become like your family. And so I think for teachers, knowing that they, I'm sure this has been said here, but they need to give themselves grace. You cannot be good at everything all at once, all the time. So picking one thing to focus on is really important, especially in those first few years and being able to kind of slowly to ease in. I wish someone would have told me working on the weekend is okay, because it made me feel better as a first year teacher to be able to know I was prepared and had all these things. I think sometimes there's a stigma of, you know, go home, leave. I know I do it to our new teachers. Make sure you're, you know, spending time with your family and friends. But really, it's okay to spend time on the weekend to make things cute, to do all the things. If it makes you a better teacher, that's all right.

I think something that I did consistently is show my personality. You I think it's important that the kids know who you are and know things you like and don't, that you're still a person. And the other thing that I think I did consistently was show my friendships with my teammates. I mean, some of my teammates were my best friends during those years. And so I think the kids benefited from seeing us get along and joke and...

take care of one another, bring each other coffee, bring each other lunch, whatever it may be, check in on the weekend. I think it's nice for the kids to see that their teachers are friends.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And it sets a model of how to, of how to, how to, how to have relationships that they can then aspire to have relationships like that, even if they're eight or to aspire to when they're an adult of giving that role, giving that role model example of like, this is what a healthy, fun relationship looks like.

One other thing that, that you hit on there is, know, some teachers might say like, yeah, I'll never work on the weekends. like sometimes there's these never or always rules that work for that person, but might not work for everybody. And one thing you said there is like, yeah, just give yourself grace. And maybe I'd add maybe experiment, right? Maybe for two weekends straight, potentially for a new teacher out there, like, yeah, do not look at your lesson. Don't do any work and just see how that feels.

Does that feel good to have the separation? Did you need that to fill your cup? Or you walk in Monday morning thinking I'm unprepared. I should not have done that. I really wish I would have spent an hour yesterday just preparing. feel lost. And then just check in with yourself of which one of those feels better and then do more of what works for you. And you have the ability to experiment with some of those things to figure out what works for you. Cause what works for someone else might work for you. And it also might not just depending on your needs, strengths and what you bring to the table. anyway, thank you. Thank you for sharing that and experimentation is a way to just yes.

Savannah Steger: Yeah, and everything comes in seasons, right? So I think in teaching especially, there's going to be really, really busy seasons and you're gonna feel like I can't do this and that's okay. Those are completely normal feelings to have. You should feel validated in feeling that and there's gonna be slower seasons and there's gonna be rich seasons. we just, like I said, promotion is one of them. There's gonna be hard and all of those have space and can work together to make a really, it's a beautiful career.

Spencer Payne: And on the note of those sometimes hard times or a tough week or even sometimes that tough week spills into another and a month or maybe you're dealing with personal issues at the same time, any examples that you might be able or willing to share of just, these are tough times in your career and how did you bounce back or how have you seen others potentially bounce back from a tough day, tough week, tough month, because we all have them, right? And sometimes just hearing others, I had it to here's how I got back to feeling normal again, it's just helpful for others to hear. any, anything that you might be able to share on that, you know, tough time and bouncing back.

Savannah Steger: Two things. One is, again, it's your village, right? So you have to have the people around you who, A, are in education and can relate. And then it's important to have people who aren't. You can offer some perspective to life too. So I think you have your teacher crew who can talk about that specific child who you might not be reaching or bonding with yet or a lesson that bombed or whatever it is, whatever challenge you may be experiencing, it's important to have the teacher friends who you can bounce ideas off of and who can resonate. And then also to have your outside circle who can just remind you you're doing important work, you're doing a great job. Because those are things I think teachers sometimes are very critical of themselves.

And then two, one of the challenges in education I feel like is sometimes you don't see your impact or your ripple until many years have passed. And so it's really cool when that happens, but you got to give yourself a little bit of time. So I think it's really important to have a little smile file, whatever you want to do a box, email folder, just something as, as you get those affirmations and that validation throughout the year and you build them up. so whenever you need a moment, you can remind yourself of, of your reach and that you are making a difference.

Spencer Payne: Um, you know, I like that. Um, uh, one of my favorite, uh, baseball coaches, teachers had a saying that was the shortest pencil is worth more than the longest memory because there's so many things that happen on a daily basis and you forget, but if you write it down, it's very easy to remember that thing that happened and the smile file or whatever it is. Um, if you keep collecting those things, like it may sound narcissistic at first. I don't think it is right. Like, Oh, so-and-so said,

Thank you so much for teaching a great lesson today. So and so's parents said, X positive thing, like write those down. Cause you can draw a lot of strength from those in those moments that are tough or hard or tricky, to go back and remember like, that's right. There's been these 50 positive things that have said, or people's appreciations, but in the moment you forget about them. But if you write them down and keep them in a jar or whatever it is, pull, pull them out and draw strength from that because it can help get you back to help get you back to why you're doing this or know that you.

You are good. You're bigger than this particular moment that you might be in at that particular time. Anything that you did in particular, maybe on the first day of class, to set the tone, either with the students, maybe with parents when you have that first meeting, like how, when you were teaching, did you really go set the tone of what to expect in your class and what they should expect of you, both maybe with the students and with the parents?

Savannah Steger: I think it all goes back to relationships. So I think you've got to bring that class together as a family. I mean, you're in it together for 180 days and you need to make sure that you know what everyone desires to come out of that year. And so we always did like a class contract or a class, I can't remember what we called them, Constitution and different things like that whenever I was teaching of things we're going to commit to each other.

And so they could see what was important to me as their teacher. I could see what was important to them and what they wanted to learn. And then I think with parents, especially now, mean, you want that first communication to be positive. As a parent, I want to know that my child is seen and is valued for who they are and is okay to make mistakes. And that's not going to be held against them or anything like that. So I think making sure that you have that first initial communication, always be positive, making sure that reassuring them that their child is going to thrive under your care and that they can trust. I mean, it's a scary thing to drop off your kid every day at a place where you're not. And you put a lot of trust into a group of people to raise and that's kind of what you're doing is you're raising. mean, they spend a lot of time at school.

It's important, I think, that you have that open communication, that relationship, that positive teamwork and collaboration together.

Spencer Payne: Would you be able or willing to share maybe one or two or any examples of what was in your class Constitution like what did did what if anything did you call out?

Savannah Steger: It's okay to make mistakes. Okay to make mistakes. We're going to work as a team. I really honestly simple things. It's nothing profound, but what's going to happen when someone hurts our feelings? What's going to happen when our teacher feels like we're not listening, you know, in talking through different situations? When you're feeling like I didn't hear you, how would you like me to respond? When you don't understand something, how would you like me to respond?

How can I make you feel successful this year? What are your goals? Obviously, the older you get, you're going to get a little bit of a different conversation depending on the age group, but I thought those are important conversations to have.

Spencer Payne: 100 % and I'll never forget.

Like I do remember back in school feeling like, if you, if you raise your hand and you got the question wrong, there's this sense of shame or embarrassment or whatever it may feel, right? It just feels like I put myself out of the limb and I failed and that's bad. I'm wrong. Right. And I remember I, because of that, I would only raise my hand when I knew the answer. And even then I wouldn't say it assertively. I'd say it with a question. Like, was it 1776?

And I do remember one teacher finally had enough of this and he's looks like Spencer, you know, the answer, say it with confidence. and the, anyway, the reason I share that is cause he already made it okay to fail. I knew that. And like, I also knew, like you said, there was a trust, like he was looking out for best interests and he was tailoring the lesson a little bit more to me and what I needed versus just generic advice, which I still remember. I don't know how many years ago that was, but many, many years ago. and I still appreciate him kind of trying to get me out of a shell of being okay to fail and you know, the answer like, like act like it. You did the reading you studied, like show, show that you know what you're talking about. So I always appreciated that too. I come from a different angle. yeah.

Savannah Steger: Yeah, and I think you have to model that failure. They're looking to us to show them what it means, how to react. If you fail, if you make a mistake, what to do, what not to do. And so I think you have to talk through that, lot of talking aloud and owning it. I mean, we're not perfect either. And so little things like I lost something or I overslept or to the point of, man, I taught that and that didn't go well.

And that's okay, like we're gonna come, we're in, again, we're in this together. We're a team, we're a family, and we're gonna try again, and that's okay.

Spencer Payne: One more question on kind of administrative side before we get into more some like quick hitter rapid fire questions, but how how if at all, you know, do you do you kind of look back at your year and say, this was a really good year? I had a good year. I was able to do this for my school, my instructors, et cetera. It might be easier to think through as a teacher. How do know you had a good year? Well, maybe test scores or the relationships I have with my particular 10, 20, 25 unit class.

How do you judge that for yourself, kind of on the administrative side, especially as a principal? Like, how do you look back and say, I had a good year, I had an okay year, I had a great year, I had a bad year, here's what I gotta do next time. Like, what metrics or field do you look at at the end of the year to kind of decide that and then figure out what to do next year?

Savannah Steger: So another thing a lot of people don't know is that principals, administrators usually go through some type of evaluation with their district office. So for me, I set goals every year. We have a leadership development position at our district office that helps us work through those things. So we meet three times a year to talk about how things are going. Different districts do things differently in how they evaluate. One thing I like to do at our school is I send out a survey at the end of the year and they can complete it anonymously or they can attach their name. And I asked, I tried to tailor the questions to give me some pretty candid feedback about how things have gone.

And so I taught, I actually have it all printed here as I'm working through it for the summer and try to plan and you know, got to take the emotion out of some of that. Cause really all we're, we're all trying to do our best. So taking that out, I think, I don't know I'm a generally pretty reflective person. I really don't like to, I just really don't feel like people working in education can fail because, or have a failure of the year. I feel like that's too hard of a word because at the end of the day, if you are positively impacting a child's life, then you're doing good. And that can...can be small scale, that can be large scale, that can be academic, that can be emotionally, that can be in lots of different ways. And again, I don't think we work in a space where you see all of the fruits immediately. So I think, I really just think reflecting on the work you do and the difference that you're making is enough.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. Well, yeah, thank you for that. Because it's always one like, how do we decide if we're doing a great job? Good job. How can we course correct as no matter what job you're doing, it's always a fascinating thing to explore how people proactively choose to kind of think about that. A couple of quick questions as we get here to rapid fire. As if you're talking to someone who is brand new to teaching or maybe they're about to start teaching.

Savannah Steger: Yeah.

Spencer Payne: What might be the number one piece of advice you would give to that teacher?

Savannah Steger: Give yourself grace and pick one thing.

Spencer Payne: pick one thing. Did you, I mean, I assume the answer must be yes, but did you get your masters? And if so, when and why that time? And what did that unlock for you?

Savannah Steger: I get my master's. I had been a teacher for five years when I decided to go back. It took me two years to get my master's or 18 months. It unlocked new positions. I got, like I said, my educational leadership master's. More importantly, when I was an assistant principal, our district offered a class in reading recovery. was called Early Literacy Professional Development, partnered through Clemson University.

And I took that when I was an assistant principal. And I feel like that changed me and who I was as an administrator. I was in the trenches with lots of teachers who it was really like a foundational literacy course. I worked with the two students every day at our school. But I think going back kind of just to take it back to that instructional leadership, you being willing to walk the walk and learn and put myself back in those shoes, I feel like that sometimes when those opportunities pop and you just feel like your heart's calling you to do something, not necessarily easy. I mean, I was going to class one night a week and then doing several hours of coursework in the afternoon for no gain. There was no job coming out of it for me, but I feel like it really shaped who I was as a leader.

Spencer Payne: And what is the number one single best thing about this profession to you? What about them?

Savannah Steger: They're awesome. Getting to be a part of their lives and hopefully a positive influence and for them to have a safe space, a safety net, to know that somebody cares about them. That's all I can ask for.

Spencer Payne: And on the other end, what is the single worst or toughest thing about this profession or the number one thing you would change if you had a magic wand and could just change it overnight?

Savannah Steger: some government systems that kind of keep us locked into some things that we have to do.

Spencer Payne: Hmm

And anything else that you would like to share, last words of wisdom, anything else we didn't touch on at all, you think is valuable, fun, et cetera, for maybe the aspiring teacher or the relatively new teacher out there, or anything that you said already that's just so important that you want to make sure it does not get lost and it gets restated. So final new or repeated words of wisdom.

Savannah Steger: I just think I was actually interviewing last week and one of the candidates was saying how she came from a family of educators and they were always telling her don't do it, don't do it. And that makes me so sad because there are definite hard moments, But I feel like that's every career and this is such a gratifying experience.

Spencer Payne: Ha ha ha.

Savannah Steger: And it is not always easy and it is, it's definitely a calling. But I feel like sometimes teaching gets kind of a bad rap, know, the pay isn't great and, you know, this is hard and the principals don't know and all the different things. I've walked in all those shoes. I don't think that's true for everywhere that you work. And, you know, I think a lot of, I talked to a lot of people now as I'm getting older and they have established careers who are searching for meaning in their job. And I feel so, so fortunate that that is not something I fight with because I can walk out at any given moment and know my why. So yeah.

Spencer Payne: And if you don't mind, could you articulate what is that why?

Savannah Steger: Again, kids, I think that is the center of all that we do is nurturing and helping our next generation of people be awesome human beings. And that looks different for every single person, but I want every single kid I know to know that they matter and that they are important and that they are loved and cared about.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. Well, Savannah, thank you so much for sharing your story from teacher to assistant, principal to principal. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Savannah Steger: Of course, thank you.