LEADERSHIP CORNER
Sacred Hearts principal focuses on teaching values

Interviewed by David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sacred Hearts Academy photo

Title: Principal
Organization: Sacred Hearts Academy, an all-girls school in Kaimuki with 1,100 students
Age: 57

Personal profile

• Self portrait: "Graduating in a class of 51 students from a small rural high school with only 10 of them going on to college, I was encouraged to consider teaching, and aside from nursing, nothing else was presented as viable. No one ever suggested that if I was a teacher, I would become rich. I focused on the intrinsic values so rich in teaching: working with young people, day in and day out, exploring, and affirming values.

"For the past 32 years, work has been at Sacred Hearts Academy on Wai'alae Avenue, first as a history teacher, then a vice principal and for the past 13 years as its principal."

White has been married for 35 years and has three children, the youngest of whom just left for college.

• Favorite book: "The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World," by Kent Keith. "This short, quick-read book gives us a set of common-sense ideas on how to be successful through service to others. ... My favorite book from my professional reading is JoAnn Deak's book, 'Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters.' Deak draws on the latest brain research to illustrate the exciting ways in which we can help our daughters learn and thrive."

• Favorite Web site: "Before I became an administrator, I was hooked on government and political science. It was in these fields that I received my undergraduate degree and began graduate work. So, with little competition, my favorite site is CNN."

• Most remembered mentor: "Although his training is not in education or administration, I owe much to my husband of over 30 years (Emmet White, CEO of Arcadia Retirement Residence). Although we both came from families where mothers stayed in the home, he has always encouraged me to stay true to my career besides being a good mother and wife. ... In a more professional sense, Sister Katherine Francis Miller has been a constant source of inspiration and guidance during the past 32 years."

• Best part of the job: "I am finally convinced we have one of the best faculties any school can have. I don't spend time worrying about them doing a good job. Many have been here 20 years. They can make better money in other schools, but they like the sense of camaraderie."

• Worst part of the job: "Seeing a young student and her family live with the consequences of bad behavior, inappropriate actions or poor decision-making that contradict the mission and the fabric of our community. I always hope for positive outcomes, but sometimes they are not always possible."

• Trademark expression: "What do you think?" "When someone — student, teacher or parent — asks to talk with me, I caution myself to listen first."

• Best decision as a leader: "Encouraging teachers to take reasonable risks."

• Worst decision as a leader: "I constantly act with haste and often in a compelling way with respect to the important issues of the moment."

• What I worry most about: "More than 40 percent of new teachers leave the field within three years of becoming a teacher. This is alarming for the long-term future of the profession. Retaining teachers who embrace the intrinsic richness and privilege of teaching a new generation to thrive and to lead a future generation is a critical concern for us."

• Biggest challenge: "At Sacred Hearts, we receive young women into our educational community at the most tumultuous period in their lives; the twin crises of adolescence and the search for personal identity. We cannot let these crises overcome them. We must provide students with the tools and skills to meet these challenges."

• Leadership tip: "Educators can be an authority on every subject in the world, but they must be able to corral the chemistry of individuals to develop a commitment and selflessness amongst them and a trust in each other that everybody puts themselves second and the institution or team first."

Taking on... Financing school operations

• The issue: "Nuns worked for a pittance," White says. Thirty-two years ago, 60 percent of the school's teachers were nuns. They did everything from administration to groundskeeping and were paid a stipend of about $400 a year. Now out of 100 faculty and staff, two are full-time teaching nuns who are paid the same as lay teachers. Starting salary for teachers is $31,000 a year. With increases in costs, tuition has gone from a few hundred a year to $7,500.

White demands a lot of her teachers and wants to pay them a good salary without raising tuition so much that families can't afford it. "You worry about pricing yourself out of the market. Lots of times you end up not catering to Catholic families because they can't afford it."

"We have an $8 million budget. I look at what the state spends per student and I would like to have that."

• The solution: "We do it more efficiently. We do not have a lot of frills. We depend on volunteers to help us do tasks. Our parents have a 'Superfair' that brings in about $80,000. The board of directors sponsors an auction and dinner that brings about the same. We aggressively go after grants. We have renovated four science labs financed from grants. A lot of times we are going after Mainland money for science labs. Our alumnae are getting to be more and more supportive."