Michelle Wagner is an optimist by nature.
That optimism now permeates St. Joseph Grade School, where Wagner is completing her first year as principal.
Every morning, Wagner, the students and staff meet in a morning assembly. The students sing the school song, celebrate student birthdays and achievements and say the pledge.
It is important to Wagner that the students begin each day together. It has become important to the students as well.
Wagner said there have been a few instances where a student has missed the morning assembly and has become upset.
‘It is important to have a positive feeling in the school as a whole,” she said. “The teachers and kids are smiling.”
The teachers at St. Joseph Grade School have embraced Wagner’s positivity.
Several teachers who had been burnt out on teaching have told her they feel a renewed passion for teaching now.
Wagner feels it is her job to help the teachers as well as the students.
“The students are my students, too, but I look at it as the teachers are my students,” she said. “I have to teach them and make sure they are ready to do the job.”
Wagner said it’s important to her that the teachers are happy and excited about teaching because that makes the students happy and excited to be at school.
“I set the tone for that,” she said. “I want everyone to know that this is a great place and we are excited you are here.”
Wagner, who moved to St. Joseph three years ago to be closer to family, said she views the school as a second home for the students.
A home where she wants them to feel happy and secure enough to talk to an adult when they need to.
“If there is something going on at home, they still need people around them that they know they can go to,” Wagner said. “They all have bad days, but it is good to know they are surrounded by people who love them. They always need support around them.”
Despite loving her current job, Wagner didn’t always want to be a principal. She was happy being an elementary school teacher, teaching kindergarten and third grade.
Then her husband, Chris who teaches physical education and drivers’ education at Rantoul Township High School, decided to go back to school and he urged her to go back to school with him.
Chris said he thought it would be fun for the two, who met in junior high and recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, to attend class together.
After some persuading, Wagner agreed.
“I have always been a learner,” she said. “I love to learn.”
The classes were once a month on a Friday night and all day Saturday. Wagner’s parents watched their kids, Cory and Mallory, while she and Chris attended classes. During the week, they would take turns completing homework while doing childcare duties and housework.
Once she got her degree, Wagner thought she needed to use it — so she was a reading coach for teachers. Then, she was curriculum director for Rantoul Public Schools. She enjoyed that job, but missed students.
“Kids are so surprising,” she said. “Think of all the things they are picking up on. They are just so full of life. How do you not love that? You never know what will come out of their mouths. It is just sheer joy.”
In 2014 she was hired to be principal at Broadmeadow Elementary School in Rantoul, which allowed her to interact with students on a daily basis again.
That job was challenging, Wagner said. But she enjoyed it.
“You always knew you were needed,” she said. “Yes, it was a hard job and there were many nights I went home crying because I felt bad for the situation kids were in, but you always knew you were needed.”
Even though she loved the students at Broadmeadow, when the job at St. Joseph Grade School opened, Wagner knew she had to apply.
“I knew I would love to be in a small school like this and be a part of my community,” she said.
Before she was hired as principal, Wagner said she didn’t know very many people in St. Joseph. Now, children stop her at the IGA or community events.
And she makes sure she knows their names.
When she was hired, Wagner made the effort to learn the name of every student at the elementary school.
So when they see her at the IGA and say “Hi, Mrs. Wagner,” she can say hi back, and include their name.
“If they know my name and I don’t know their name, that’s not good business,” Wagner said with a smile.
Despite her cheerful demeanor, Wagner said she knows being positive isn’t always easy.
In fact, she admits she has to make a conscious effort to be happy.
She says it is something she has to do since she has lived through one of the worst things a parent can experience — the death of a child.
Wagner’s son, Cory, passed away in July 2012 from cancer when he was 9 years old.
“It was the most horrifying thing anyone could go through,” Wagner said. “I had a choice. I could be miserable. I could dwell in how bad my life is or I could get up and show my daughter that you can’t live that way and you have to pick up and move on. I had to be a mom for her. I have to make the conscious effort to be happy because it is not easy to do after you have lived through that.”
Wagner said she chooses to handle the death of her son in the most positive way she can. She shared a lot online when her son was battling cancer and people would often comment on her strength or tell her that the family’s story inspired them while they were facing difficult circumstances.
“It’s part of me,” she said.
Wagner is very cognizant of being a good role model for not only her
“I am in a position where I can influence a lot of people and a lot of things and I would rather be a positive influence rather than a negative one,” she said. “I want to help people, whether it’s kids or grown-ups. I want to help people, and it is easier to help people when you are happy.”
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