ABERDEEN-Propelled into the national spotlight after two gunmen took the lives of 12 students and one teacher, retired Principal of Columbine High School Frank DeAngelis gave a presentation explaining the leadership lessons he has learned.
More than 400 professionals, including law enforcement officials, administrators and emergency workers gathered to listen and learn from DeAngelis on July 19, at the Matawan Regional High School’s auditorium.
Spearheaded by Director of Security for the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Richard Oppegaard, the event was free thanks to Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District partnering with the New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning.
“I had the opportunity to see him speak last summer. I was very moved by his message and I just felt that this was something that would benefit not only our administrative team but our teachers, our law enforcement officials and first responders too, because Columbine changed not only the protocols for schools but also the way law enforcement responded to school based incidents. I thought that his message on leadership [and] that school security is important and really valuable to everyone it’s kind of important to have everyone in the same room hearing that message,” Oppegaard said.
Superintendent of Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, Joseph Majka, along with Karin Garver, chief of staff at the New Jersey Department of Education, and Lester Richens, Monmouth County executive superintendent for the New Jersey Department of Education each spoke briefly and thanked DeAngelis for coming to speak.
DeAngelis served as an educator for the Jeffco School District in Littleton Colorado, since 1979 and became principal in 1996, according to information provided by the school.
A national level speaker, DeAngelis has addressed numerous professional and school audiences on the topic of recovery after a school-based tragedy. He has visited, consulted, and assisted school communities across the country following incidents of violence and tragedy, including Platte Canyon, Chardon, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook, according to provided information.
“I’ve been to New Jersey twice to do presentations and I was in southern New Jersey last year presenting to prosecutors and someone heard this presentation and they said ‘I really feel this would be great for administrators.’ So when [Oppegaard] called me and asked me if I would be interested, I said ‘I’d love too’ and so we set it up. The thing that I like is the fact that we not only have educators, but we have police officers, we have mental health workers, all together. So when I was told who was coming I said ‘this is going to be great’ and so New Jersey has got a special place in my heart,” DeAngelis said.
He retired in June of 2014 after 35 years at Columbine High School. DeAngelis currently is serving as a consultant for safety and emergency management for the Jeffco School District in Colorado, and continues to travel nationally and internationally, speaking and consulting.
To start off his presentation, DeAngelis began by showing photos of the 13 victims who were killed during the Columbine High School shooting and shared his personal account of that day.
Throughout the speech DeAngelis always referred to his students as “his kids.”
On April 20, 1999, DeAngelis said he started his day at an awards ceremony on a golf course, where he later returned to the high school and was considering hiring a teacher. Then he said he notified by his secretary that there were reports of gunfire in the building.
As DeAngelis ran down one of the school’s hallways, he said he saw one of the gunman and remembered hearing shots and shattering glass.
“My worst nightmare became my reality…and I froze,” DeAngelis said. However, when he realized that his students were in danger he ran to try and save as many as he could, according to DeAngelis.
Toward the end of that horrific day, DeAngelis said parents met up at a local elementary to be reunited with their children, however by the end of the night the parents that were not reunited with their children realized that their child was never coming home.
During his presentation, DeAngelis showed a slide titled “Mr. D’s BEs Leadership Tips” which showed his top ten virtues that every good leader should try to follow, including: be visible, be honest, be empathetic, be flexible, be generous, assigning credit, be careful in making generalization, a heart led leader, be inclusive, and to love, love, love.
In order to help rebuild a sense of togetherness and community among his students after the shooting, DeAngelis said he started “the chain” initiative where he would pass out links to all of his students that said “We Are Columbine” to which the school would connect each link together ultimately forming a large chain, symbolizing the connection every students has at the school.
School officials must make an effort to get input from the young people if they want to have a great school, according to DeAngelis.
Developing a strong working relationship with local law enforcement officers is very important for school officials to do, according to DeAngelis. Furthermore, DeAngelis said that all school officials should implement a safety plan and to frequently practice their safety drills numerous times a year.
Making an effort to develop personal relationships with staff is important, according DeAngelis. He then told the story about how he would write personalized Christmas cards to each one of staff members.
DeAngelis explained that by finding his faith, learning about forgiveness, having support, getting counseling, and seeing his students is what helped him keep moving forward as the school’s principal. He stayed at Columbine High School 15 years after the shooting and said he loved his job and he loved “his kids.”
For more information about school safety and state resources visit www.nj.gov/education/schools/security/.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
