POWNAL — Pownal Elementary School has a new principal -- and she’s ready to carry the torch of Pownal pride.
Bethany Lorge from North Adams, Mass., started her new job on July 1 after coming back to the area from San Antonio, Texas. There, she got her masters degree in teaching. She went on to teach middle school social studies and reading and coach for a total of eight years.
She soon decided to get a second masters in educational leadership. That allowed her to be an assistant principal for two years before getting promoted to the principal position, where she stayed for four years.
While she was in Texas, Lorge realized how important sports were to the culture in the south. She said her middle school students were pushed to decide what sport they wanted to dedicate their life to.
In contrast, she spoke about how she still keeps in touch with her basketball coach and her band director.
“They were instrumental in my education, and they were on completely opposite ends, but united,” she said.
That’s the type of education she wants her students in Pownal to experience.
“I want to be someone who can promote a well rounded student,” she said. “That's a priority to me, that the relationship and the wholeness of a student comes before anything else.”
While evaluations and testing are part of the educational system and a tool in understanding how children are progressing, Lorge said testing "is not the end-all be-all of education.” She continuously emphasized the importance of community and relationships in Pownal.
In her larger school in Texas, she said she was more removed from the day-to-day tasks; she took on a more supervisory role. In Pownal, at a smaller school, she sees that the role is more community based.
“There's a lot of history. Getting to know that has been part of my job and what I'm working on, but there's a lot of pride,” she said.
With the gang presence growing in Bennington County, children can be a vulnerable population. Lorge has experience with this issue from when she worked in the inner city of San Antonio.
“The reality of gangs were literally at our doorstep,” she said.
She can’t solve every problem, but she believes “that education is what starts to transition and change and give hope, and really at the end of the day, a child's best bet to create their own life is through their education.” A strong educational foundation can support them when they are faced with tough decisions.
Lorge understands that “if you lose [kids] in elementary, it's really hard to gain them back in middle, and we saw that when students came to us in middle school.” It’s more difficult to help a child catch up than it is to keep them at pace with their classmates.
“When they see that they feel safe here, that … they can be successful when they're challenged, that sets them on the path for, as they move to their next level, that they have hope,” she said. “They know what success feels like.”
She’s aware of the fierce pride Pownal has for its community, and that a lot of that pride comes from the school.
“That's my torch to carry,” said Lorge.
New principal ready to carry the torch | Local News | benningtonbanner.com - Bennington Banner
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