In this episode of The Filling Station podcast, host Mary Ann LeRay sits down with Kelly Coward Kirschner, principal of Pollocksville Elementary School. Kelly is Jones County through and through: she attended Trenton Elementary and Jones Senior High School, studied at East Carolina University, and began her teaching career in Craven County. Thirty years later, she is back home leading a school where she knows her students' parents and grandparents, and she says she still enjoys going to work every day.
From the classroom to the principal's office
Kelly always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, inspired by educators like Ms. Mary Lendall Thomas and her purple bathtub reading corner at the old Pollocksville school. She resisted moving into administration for years because she loved working directly with students, until a mentor gave her the push she needed. Today she sees the principal's role as the best of both worlds, coaching teachers while still building relationships with kids. Her goal is simple: make school a place where students feel safe, want to be every day, and know they have a voice.
Filling the bucket, one pom-pom at a time
Pollocksville Elementary earned Lighthouse status through the Leader in Me program, built on Stephen Covey's Seven Habits, and this year the school is building on that foundation with a new initiative called Filling the Bucket. Every student has a bucket with their name on it and earns pom-poms for good choices and acts of kindness, while classroom and school-wide buckets track shared goals. The best part? Our community can join in. Coaches, church leaders, 4-H leaders, and dance instructors are invited to stop by or call in when they see a student showing kindness outside of school.
Kindness that raises funds, too
Kelly also shares the story behind Raise Craze, a fundraiser built on pledged acts of kindness instead of product sales. Students commit to things like writing thank-you notes to community helpers, helping elderly neighbors with their trash cans, and including classmates at recess, and supporters can sponsor those pledges online through October 9th. The money goes toward needs the students named themselves: playground shade, new music instruments, picnic tables, and sports equipment. As Kelly puts it, the kindness students practice at school is rippling out into the community, and this is just the beginning of the school year. Listen in, then find a way to help fill a bucket in Jones County.