THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501130227
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Cleaning bowling alley toilets at age 15 taught E. Wayne Sykes a lot about hard work.
Sykes, 46, is rolling up his sleeves since the School Board appointed him permanent principal of Salem High School last week. An assistant principal at Salem until November, Sykes took over the reins on an acting basis after the death of Principal Ramona Stenzhorn.
Out of deference for Stenzhorn, Sykes worked out of a school's conference room for a week before moving some things into her office. Even now he's only about half moved in, with some plants sitting around and just a few pictures hanging on the walls.
Photos of his 2-year-old son, Rett, and his wife, Lynn, sit near his desk.
The Portsmouth native has dreamed since he was 16 about leading a school. The death of a principal he admired was not how he had hoped his big day would come.
``I always had this feeling that it would be this tremendous moment of pride and accomplishment,'' he said. ``But events have tempered that.
``In one sense I'm very, very happy to be selected. But in another sense, I'm very sorry that it was under these circumstances.''
But a lot of help from Stenzhorn and nearly 22 years in the business have prepared him for the challenge he faces - to galvanize the school after a traumatic first semester, starting in October when three guns were confiscated in the school's parking lot in the space of a week. The school was rocked by the loss of Stenzhorn.
Michael C. Themides, a retired administrator who was Sykes' principal when he was a teacher at Kellam High during the '70s and '80s, said there's no one better to tackle the job.
``It's a difficult situation to say the least,'' Themides said. ``No one wants to become a principal under those circumstances.
``I don't know of a better person. He's level-headed. He's strong. I hope a lot of the faculty members will rally around.''
Sykes started out as a math teacher at Kellam High in 1972, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in math education from Virginia Tech.
He immediately jumped in to handle tasks other than teaching. He coached the baseball team, monitored students during in-school-suspension and drove the athletic bus. He even swept the gym floor after Saturday night basketball games.
Then-principal Themides did a lot for his staff, Sykes said, but expected a lot in return.
``Everybody just kind of pitched in and did what needed to be done,'' Sykes said.
He led various committees, including the important child study committee charged with recommending help for students who needed it.
``We kind of dumped the child study team on him as a test, to see if we could recommend him for anything in the future,'' Themides said. ``He did the best job of all the faculty members I worked with'' on the committee.
``He didn't want to make a mistake.''
Sykes earned his master's degree in educational administration at Old Dominion University in 1979. He went on in 1992 to earn his certificate of advanced graduate studies in educational administration - one step away from a doctorate degree - from Virginia Tech in 1992. The only thing between him and a doctorate degree now is a dissertation. Finding time to do that is a big hurdle.
Sykes walked into his first administrative job in 1984, when he took an assistant principalship at what was then Brandon Junior High. In 1987, he moved to an assistant principalship at Green Run High. He joined Salem in 1990.
Under Stenzhorn, Sykes and the other assistant principals were given a range of responsibilities, instead of just being asked to supervise one aspect of school life, such as discipline.
Stenzhorn also gave her assistant principals duties usually reserved for the principal, such as hiring staff members.
``She prepared us to walk into a promotion,'' Sykes said. ``That makes it easier.
``I hope people feel that I'm competent and able to meet the challenges. On the flip side, I've told people I'll never be Ramona, because I'm not as flamboyant as she was.''
Sykes has no plans to make major changes at the school.
He hopes to continue the programs that already are in place or are in the works, such as the change this year from seven bells a day to eight. English teachers are trying out a revamped curriculum that places a heavier emphasis on grammar than in other schools. Salem also is expected to be one of the sites for a new Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences that is planned to begin in Virginia Beach next year.
``We have a lot of things that have been created,'' he said. ``I think we need to take some time to see if those things are effective.''
Sykes wants to foster new ideas. But he also plans to make sure all new programs have a reasonable chance of working to meet the school's needs.
For example, he said, he'd like to start a mentoring program for students who are at-risk academically or otherwise. He'd like to have programs to encourage the ``middle kids,'' the ones who are neither academically gifted nor at-risk.
Sykes also said he wants students, parents and staff members to help figure out how to sell the school's positive points.
``I think people need to realize that there are a lot of good teachers and a lot of good students and parents here,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
``I hope people feel that I'm competent and able to meet the
challenges,'' says Salem High principal E. Wayne Sykes. ``On the
flip side, I've told people I'll never be Ramona (Stenzhorn),
because I'm not as flamboyant as she was.''
by CNB