Principal Gallagher unleashes long list of school projects




Oct. 2 was "Rock Your School Day" at Southport Central School and for thousands of other schools all over the U.S. Southport Central School students painted their faces, made smoothies with a bicycle-powered blender and danced in the Glow Room by virtue of special fluorescent glow-in-the-dark clothing.
Rock Your School Day is a national recognition day which began in 2019. This is the second year in a row Principal Shawn Gallagher has brought it to Southport. "We are a month to month and a half into the school year, and Rock Your School Day celebrates what the students have learned so far," Gallagher said. "It's a day of science experiments, a smoothie bar, glow room with food experiments that glow."
This is Gallagher's first year as a full-time teaching principal in Southport. Last year, he worked as a classroom teacher and in conjunction with Lisa Clarke who served as a mentor for him as he adjusted to the dual role of teacher/administrator. He is on his own now implementing an educational curriculum heavily influenced on nutrition, respect and accountability.
His educational program has a major focus on nutrition. The school no longer gets school breakfast from Boothbay Region Elementary School. Gallagher now serves "scratch breakfast' five days per week. "Mondays are smoothies. Kids really like smoothies so we served them again on Friday. Other days include fresh fruit, yogurt and egg and sausage sandwiches," he said. "What I'd like to do is change the food landscape here. No more prepackaged snacks, and I'd like to get back to when we prepared lunch here."
Gallagher has taken a more active role in ordering and preparing meals for Southport students. "I'm working with the food service director and preparing meals the way when Ramona (Gaudette) was here. I did the coursework this summer to become (Maine) Safe Serve certified." He described a good breakfast as a way of getting students to school on time and prepared for a day of learning.
In the classroom, Gallagher calls his educational priorities "The Big Rocks." This fall, he plans on embarking on his "Big Rocks" through a series of community relationship-building exercises. In September, students visited the U.S. Coast Guard Base in Boothbay Harbor and performed a coastal cleanup of Hendricks Hill Beach.
"They learned how the Coast Guard protects us, and we learned how to show our appreciation," he said. "In our community guidance classroom, we baked cookies and sent them to the Coast Guard in appreciation of their service."
This month, students will participate in a community Halloween celebration. Gallagher said the Oct. 31 celebration will be "less kid-centric" by focusing on the community. He described the celebration as an "Old Fashion New England" fall festival. "Kids will make posters and participate in the set-up. We are hoping to bring the community into the school and celebrate with an apple press, pumpkin painting and carving, donut eating on a string and catapulting little pumpkins," he said.
November brings two service projects with Veterans and Thanksgiving days. Gallagher is bringing back a pre-COVID tradition of holding a special veterans event. He wants to continue with the "gratitude" theme by showing veterans community appreciation. "We want to reach out to as many veterans as possible. It will be a day of appreciation for their service with poetry and special classroom performances by each grade."
While the special veterans appreciation event harkens back to a past school tradition, Gallagher is creating a new Thanksgiving-themed event. On Nov. 28, the school is partnering with Southport General Store in serving a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner featuring soups and breads. "We want to bring in people from the community and sit them with a student. It will be a great opportunity for our students to learn how to start a conversation with someone you wouldn't normally speak to," he said.
Students will assist the general store staff in preparing the special Thanksgiving Day meal and will write special invitations to the event, according to Gallagher.
During the regular school week, Gallagher is also emphasizing an "Eat Last" iniative into Southport classrooms. This is a concept Gallagher used when he taught grades 4-6 in the Southport school. "This brings a selflessness ethos into the classroom," he said. "The mantra asks the students 'What might somebody else need before me?’" Gallagher further explained, it is for the student to take care of everybody else's needs before their own. Gallagher explain the concept as asking one's self three questions. What might somebody else needs before me? Can I get my needs met last? Am I aware of the group around me?" Gallagher said.
He described the lesson's impact on students as profound. "It's giving the kids autonomy and agency to navigate conflicts with other students. It almost eliminates the need for teachers," he said.