Ingraham Has Varied Past
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Ingraham Has Varied Past
By David [email protected]
A native of Minnesota, Ingraham received her undergraduate degree and first master's degree at the University of South Dakota in special education and elementary education. She also has a master's degree in learning disabilities. She spent her first five years working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota as a learning disabilities teacher.[[In-content Ad]]She then moved to American Samoa for two years, from 1978 to 1980. Instead of teaching students, however, she was a contracted employee who helped teachers on the island continue their education.
"I thought, 'I'm living on an island in the South Pacific.' That was my job," Ingraham said during an interview Oct. 5.
After leaving the island, she taught in Minnesota as a learning disabilities teacher for three years. By the time she joined Manchester Schools during the 1988-89 school year, she was a mother.
During her time as a teacher, she had never planned to become an administrator.
"I didn't decide to become a principal," she said. "Our principal was asked to take a superintendent position in August. The assistant principal moved over to become the principal. I was asked to take on the role as administrative assistant."
After three years in that position, Ingraham received her principal's license.
At one point, Ingraham asked why would she want to take a position of conflict. She tries to stay away from conflict. She was told she'd grow into it. It didn't take long for her to find out that was true. Once she moved up to the next level, she knew she would never go back.
"For me, it's something I don't want to do," she said.
That's not to say she doesn't miss some parts of being a teacher.
"The main thing I miss is watching the eyes of children. The eyes of children as they get highly engaged," she said.
Manchester Elementary is an elementary school for grades kindergarten through fourth grade.
"I have the best school. In a grades K through four building, you're a celebrity," she said. Kids will wave to her and give her hugs. They are excited to see her. "It's kind of fun."
An elementary school also doesn't have the kind of problems as the upper grades.
"At my level, we're probably not having to deal with the discipline the higher levels have to deal with," she said.
Issues at an elementary school, she said, are about children keeping their hands and feet to themselves.
Ingraham is also on a new campaign on language at the school. The campaign's slogan is, "If you can't say it, do it or write it in front of your teacher, you had better not say it, do it or write it."
Manchester Elementary is trying to set a standard at school that the wrong gestures, words or writings don't belong in the school environment. That includes on the bus as well as at the school or at school functions.
"At my level, we're still at the teaching level of discipline. We're still teaching kids words and meanings," Ingraham said.
Manchester Elementary wasn't always a kindergarten through fourth-grade school. When she took over, the school went all the way to grade six.
"It was fun to finish out sixth-graders. I really enjoyed my fifth- and sixth-graders. You relate to them differently," she said. "However, as soon as you take off the top layer, the next layer rises to the top. So now we look to fourth-graders as being our models, reading buddies. It probably took me only a year to figure that out."
Ingraham said she really loved having an elementary school up to grade six because she really got to know the children and their parents. However, even with just students up to grade four, she still gets them longer than the intermediate, junior high and high school.
"Parent support is still the No. 1 factor in having children succeed in school," she said.
To make that happen, part of Ingraham's job is that of a relationship builder between parents and the school. She tries to build positive, successful relationships between the school and the parents. Sometimes there is mistrust on the parent's part because they might have had a bad school past. Ingraham said she has to work with those parents a little more.
"You have to accept a lot of responsibility," she said.
Parents' biggest concerns are often about how they perceive their child as being treated. They might feel their child has been overlooked, or missed an opportunity, or maybe an emergency situation involving their child wasn't handled properly.
"It's just getting back (to them) and saying, 'we care.' Often, it's just doing some checking. Parents just want to know their children are being taken care of as good as at home or better," Ingraham said.
She said the school does have protocols in place.
"A lot of these are safety and health issues. That's a good share of it," she said. "Bus issues also are big. Typically, they want to make sure (an issue) was handled the way it was suppose to be. Parent relationships are a big part of (my) job."
Besides dealing with parents, Ingraham has many other items on her plate.
"I spend the most part of my day problem solving," Ingraham said. She's trying to figure out what parents' needs are, what teachers' needs in the classrooms are and how to make it all happen.
Having been at MES for more than 20 years, Ingraham has been able to hire some really good professional people for the school, she said. They're good teachers who share what they learn and keep learning. Ingraham tries to keep making sure the staff has the resources to keep learning.
She said, "It's proven that the single best way to improve learning is to improve the education of teachers."
A native of Minnesota, Ingraham received her undergraduate degree and first master's degree at the University of South Dakota in special education and elementary education. She also has a master's degree in learning disabilities. She spent her first five years working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota as a learning disabilities teacher.[[In-content Ad]]She then moved to American Samoa for two years, from 1978 to 1980. Instead of teaching students, however, she was a contracted employee who helped teachers on the island continue their education.
"I thought, 'I'm living on an island in the South Pacific.' That was my job," Ingraham said during an interview Oct. 5.
After leaving the island, she taught in Minnesota as a learning disabilities teacher for three years. By the time she joined Manchester Schools during the 1988-89 school year, she was a mother.
During her time as a teacher, she had never planned to become an administrator.
"I didn't decide to become a principal," she said. "Our principal was asked to take a superintendent position in August. The assistant principal moved over to become the principal. I was asked to take on the role as administrative assistant."
After three years in that position, Ingraham received her principal's license.
At one point, Ingraham asked why would she want to take a position of conflict. She tries to stay away from conflict. She was told she'd grow into it. It didn't take long for her to find out that was true. Once she moved up to the next level, she knew she would never go back.
"For me, it's something I don't want to do," she said.
That's not to say she doesn't miss some parts of being a teacher.
"The main thing I miss is watching the eyes of children. The eyes of children as they get highly engaged," she said.
Manchester Elementary is an elementary school for grades kindergarten through fourth grade.
"I have the best school. In a grades K through four building, you're a celebrity," she said. Kids will wave to her and give her hugs. They are excited to see her. "It's kind of fun."
An elementary school also doesn't have the kind of problems as the upper grades.
"At my level, we're probably not having to deal with the discipline the higher levels have to deal with," she said.
Issues at an elementary school, she said, are about children keeping their hands and feet to themselves.
Ingraham is also on a new campaign on language at the school. The campaign's slogan is, "If you can't say it, do it or write it in front of your teacher, you had better not say it, do it or write it."
Manchester Elementary is trying to set a standard at school that the wrong gestures, words or writings don't belong in the school environment. That includes on the bus as well as at the school or at school functions.
"At my level, we're still at the teaching level of discipline. We're still teaching kids words and meanings," Ingraham said.
Manchester Elementary wasn't always a kindergarten through fourth-grade school. When she took over, the school went all the way to grade six.
"It was fun to finish out sixth-graders. I really enjoyed my fifth- and sixth-graders. You relate to them differently," she said. "However, as soon as you take off the top layer, the next layer rises to the top. So now we look to fourth-graders as being our models, reading buddies. It probably took me only a year to figure that out."
Ingraham said she really loved having an elementary school up to grade six because she really got to know the children and their parents. However, even with just students up to grade four, she still gets them longer than the intermediate, junior high and high school.
"Parent support is still the No. 1 factor in having children succeed in school," she said.
To make that happen, part of Ingraham's job is that of a relationship builder between parents and the school. She tries to build positive, successful relationships between the school and the parents. Sometimes there is mistrust on the parent's part because they might have had a bad school past. Ingraham said she has to work with those parents a little more.
"You have to accept a lot of responsibility," she said.
Parents' biggest concerns are often about how they perceive their child as being treated. They might feel their child has been overlooked, or missed an opportunity, or maybe an emergency situation involving their child wasn't handled properly.
"It's just getting back (to them) and saying, 'we care.' Often, it's just doing some checking. Parents just want to know their children are being taken care of as good as at home or better," Ingraham said.
She said the school does have protocols in place.
"A lot of these are safety and health issues. That's a good share of it," she said. "Bus issues also are big. Typically, they want to make sure (an issue) was handled the way it was suppose to be. Parent relationships are a big part of (my) job."
Besides dealing with parents, Ingraham has many other items on her plate.
"I spend the most part of my day problem solving," Ingraham said. She's trying to figure out what parents' needs are, what teachers' needs in the classrooms are and how to make it all happen.
Having been at MES for more than 20 years, Ingraham has been able to hire some really good professional people for the school, she said. They're good teachers who share what they learn and keep learning. Ingraham tries to keep making sure the staff has the resources to keep learning.
She said, "It's proven that the single best way to improve learning is to improve the education of teachers."
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