PROFILES in EDUCATION

Candace Braun

Bill Johnson

Name: Bill Johnson

School: John Witherspoon Middle School

Years in Education: 41 years, 28 years as principal at John Witherspoon

Education: Dwight Morrow High School, in Englewood; bachelor's of science degree, Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.; master's degree in education administration, Seton Hall University in South Orange

Most Memorable Books: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou; biographies of Bill Russell, Bill Cosby, and Malcolm X

Person You Admire: "Sergeant Major Huff, first black marine in the history of the United States Marine Corps... When I was [second lieutenant] in the Marine Corps... I went into the headquarters building and [Sgt. Huff] said to me, 'Young man I've been waiting all my life to see you, a black officer.' It was a very sobering thing to hear when I looked up to him as a role model of what an African-American marine should be. He deferred to me such dignity and honor; he shaped a lot of what I'm about."

Embrace teenagers as the future, rather than cast them aside as awkward adolescents, says Bill Johnson, middle school principal.

"I like puberty because everyone else says there's something wrong with it," said Mr. Johnson. "To me, it's the time when... youngsters are really having a tough time in a lot of different ways. My mission in life is to get them through that as smoothly as possible, by educating them about what they need to know, and really supporting their self esteem."

Mr. Johnson has been an educator in middle schools for 41 years, 28 of which he has been principal of John Witherspoon Middle School in the Princeton Regional School District. However the principal has been looked to as an educator for much longer than that.

"My nickname in junior high through high school was 'professor,'" he said, laughing.

Growing up in Harlem, N.Y., Mr. Johnson said that as a child he and his friends were only allowed to get together after school once they finished their chores and did their homework. Mr. Johnson took it upon himself to make sure all his friends got through their homework each night, either with his help, or through the help of someone else he found for them.

"They would always say, 'the professor knows what to do,'" Mr. Johnson said of his friends.

In high school, Mr. Johnson began to think more seriously about a career in education, by joining the Future Teachers of America Club.

"I enjoyed the idea of learning... and the challenge of taking that learning and teaching it to someone else," he said.

Defining a principal as a master teacher and a master learner, Mr. Johnson says being principal means being "the educational leader of the school." Through enthusiasm for both his school and his students, Mr. Johnson has seen his school excel on many levels, including recently being recognized by the state as the "Best Practices School," part of the Just For Kids program, which highlights the performance of excellent schools in New Jersey.

Past, Present, Future

A scrapbook sits on a shelf in the principal's office, filled with newspaper clippings of memories he has collected over the years of John Witherspoon. One of the first articles in his book is a Town Topics article dating back to 1976, when he first came to Princeton. In it he called John Witherspoon, "the most beautiful school building in the country," which Mr. Johnson says is still true today.

Now, moving forward with construction, the principal is looking for ways to exemplify the school's sense of pride within the new wing of the building.

"I would like to include in our new structure a sense of historic pride by adding bricks of all our students names in the building somewhere," he said, adding that he has already purchased the bricks on which the students names will be engraved.

Many memorable moments at John Witherspoon decorate the walls of the principal's office, hallways, and heart. One memory in particular that always holds to be special each year is the eighth grade class trip to Washington D.C., said Mr. Johnson. Each child leaves for the school trip as a separate person, but they return a solidified group.

"[Students] leave here not connected as a group. But when they return from Washington, after three days of being together, they step off those buses tired, but they enter school that Monday morning changed students."

Visions For His School

A resident of Ewing, Mr. Johnson went to high school in Englewood, where he later returned to teach, then become assistant principal and principal. After 11 years in the school district, he moved on to Princeton, where he has remained.

All along he has had the same vision for his school, from which he has never strayed: "My vision here was to be the most prepared middle school in the country... In order to do that, we had to be excellent in everything we did," he said.

"Everything" included being a scholar, focusing on the visual and performing arts, performing well in athletics, and having good character.

Character was the one part of his plan that has been hard to stick to over the years, says the principal. For a period of time, the focus of not only the students, but of society, was very self-involved, he said.

"Parents were worried about their own individual household... they were selfish about giving their time and efforts to the school, which was reflected in their children," said Mr. Johnson.

However slowly but surely, the students, as well as society, are making their way back to creating a more unselfish environment, he said: "People realize now that we can't live like that and we need to live together harmoniously."

Education Today

Now, the biggest issue facing educators in middle schools, is making teachers believe that middle school students can learn despite the many personal issues they are facing in their lives, said the principal.

"Too many middle school educators make excuses for children not doing well because they're at this unique time in their lives," said Mr. Johnson. "I believe they're at the prime time to teach them everything."

Mr. Johnson said that middle school students are at an age when they haven't become the person they are going to be yet, which is why it's important for educators to steer them in the right direction. Instruction, rather than discipline, will get students to where they need to be, he said.

Getting into the mindset of a 13-year-old also helps, said the principal.

"There's an old saying: you stick around young people, you stay young. So I'm probably the oldest teenager in America," said Mr. Johnson.

But when it comes to taking credit as an educator, Mr. Johnson looks to many other people for helping him and his school get to where they are today.

"Without all the folks here in Princeton... I would never have been able to do what I do. They all give me the energy every day to keep coming back."