Side Passion: Lead Up mentoring and consulting
I have been in Public Education since 1991. I originally started my college journey intending to be a child psychologist, and ended up with a BSEd from Baylor University. I started teaching English and Coaching sports, and never thought of doing anything else outside of the schoolroom doors. Once you begin to see the impact through education, it is difficult to step away for any amount of money or enticing offer. Students matter, teachers matter, education matters.
I grew up playing sports, and that was a great bonding piece with my father Sonny Elrod. I played volleyball and softball at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK my freshman year, but then transferred to Baylor my sophomore year to play softball only. My older sister, Lana, was already attending Baylor and was an Education major, so I just kind of followed her. We even ended up getting our Masters in Education together as well through the University of North Texas a decade later. Our mother Martha Elrod had taught us to care about other people before ourselves, and that servant leadership followed us into education.
Connections to others is what makes any workplace or business successful. As a High School Principal, it is important to keep your staffulty informed and find ways to connect them together. People enjoy being in a workplace where they feel connected to the mission and the vision while enjoying days with people they consider friends. I enjoy watching others have a good time in a nurturing environment.
As the Principal of a large campus (2400 students and 200+ staffulty) I oversee the day-to-day operations, budgets, discipline, academic achievement and climate/culture of the campus as a whole. I am the constant that keeps the campus anchored, but I do it with a vision of connectedness. It is important to have the input of student voice, teacher ingenuity and administrative oversight. We use rewards and awards to keep us going, and that in turn leads to positive influence in our daily operations.
I am a firm believer in strength-based leadership. Let those that are strong in an area, take control and use those gifts in a positive way. The happiest parts of my job as a High School Principal are seeing others succeed. I prefer to put the spotlight on the areas where people shine so they understand their worth. Nothing compares to seeing smiling, happy people. Brazoswood has an incredible set of Administrators functioning together with strong teachers, counselors, classroom aides, office staff, custodial and cafeteria management that come together to offer a caring atmosphere that allows students to grow in their education and their creativity.
Which are the major offerings of Brazoswood High School? What value-added services does the school provide?
Brazoswood High School is a part of Brazosport ISD. We offer a wide curriculum that focuses on the whole student in preparation to be future ready. Students can choose multiple academic focus areas of the educational environment and extracurricular experiences. We have a vast array of Athletics, Fine Arts, Clubs and Organizations. We have incredible Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways as well that provide them with practical experience to enter the workforce right after high school or prepare them for future careers.
Our campus has been a Capturing Kids Hearts National Showcase Campus multiple times as well as a Jostens Renaissance Platinum level school. These programs validate that we are doing what is good for children. Utilizing the pieces of both of these organizations (CKH and Renaissance) we have been able to build a positive campus culture of kindness, inclusivity and community spirit of pride. Through these organizations, I have done many public speaking engagements to foster collaboration and provide roadmaps to other schools to be effective stewards of kindness and culture. These experiences have led me to recently create a framework for LEAD UP LLC to provide my experience to schools or organizations on how to lead with a positive focus.
LEAD UP focuses on the things that I believe should matter most to an organization. I utilize the mindset of “you have to LIVE UP to LEAD UP”. You must Live Up to the expectations you seek for others in order to ask them to Lead Up daily. It is important to teach Students and Staff how to STAND UP for what they believe is right and provide the tools to SPEAK UP for those things correctly in order to STAY UP and not back down. Finally they must be able to STEP UP and volunteer or take the lead when needed. These are skills that can be taught and focused to keep a positive atmosphere that others have collaborated to build. Being informed takes research and time to be connected to your campus or your business organization. The framework for LEAD UP focuses on the belief that you should Lead to lift others Up not Lead in a way that brings others Down. It is all about bringing others up to high expectations, not taking others down to meet an average existence. Positive is always better than negative, but many times is more difficult to achieve in today’s society of negativity and social media microscopes. Connecting people so they focus on building each other up rather than tearing each other down is a task in itself, but a mission that is admirable. This framework is what I work off of daily to seek motivation.
What are some of the best things in your personal life?
I have served on the Executive Board and as the President of the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP), the Nation’s largest School Principal Organization. That experience afforded me the opportunity to visit many campuses and to mentor Principals and Assistant Principals across the state of Texas. I have also served on steering committees for the Texas Education Agency and been named one of the top 50 Female Leaders in Houston by The Women We Admire Organization. I have been honored as the Principal of the Year for Region XI, Secondary Principal of the Year for Brazosport ISD, Top 25 Educator for HEB Excellence in Education, and received a Lifetime Award of Achievement for Texas PTA.
In my spare time, I also work at MLSBC as a cruise port agent at the Port of Galveston. I assist in debarkation and embarkation of guests for Carnival Cruise Ships. This is a positive atmosphere where you are helping others go on vacation with family and friends. It is a rewarding customer service experience. I enjoy reading mystery novels, watching true crime shows and traveling with my husband Joe Pintavalle. I also enjoy helping my husband with his passion of growing hot peppers. We make spicy treats and spice blends using home grown hot peppers under the name Pintapeppers for competition and gifts. I have one daughter, Carson Campbell (a Medical Terminology teacher and High School Coach), and 3 bonus children Lauren Pintavalle Story (a Nurse Practitioner in Neurology Oncology), Brianne Pintavalle Burton (an RN and Medical Billing Associate) and Joe Pintavalle (a Regional Flooring specialist). We also have a delightful pet Tortoise named Lucy.
