Taylor Schmidt began working at the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School in 2010.
He was hired to be the band director. Nine years later, Schmidt was promoted to vice principal. Schmidt, who coaches the varsity boys volleyball team, was promoted again not long after. He's now in his third year as the school's principal.
Taylor still remembers when he was in the band room, making music, and putting on concerts.
"As I moved into a vice principal role, I got more involved in different parts of the school. Our vocational programming, a bit more of our extracurricular," said Schmidt. "As a principal these last three years, it's amazing the diversity of the programming, teachers, and the entire staff. From our educational assistants to our kitchen staff, custodians, and secretaries, the diversity of our building is amazing."
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is coming to a close in the province. It's been a week to honour the teachers and staff for their hard work, dedication, and commitment.
Earlier this week, the superintendent of MVSD, Suzanne Cottyn, sent out a memo to schools to take time to recognize each other and colleagues.
Schmidt said it's been great to see everyone take time to let others know how they appreciate them.
"It's just amazing how we are one big massive team," added Schmidt. "From our vocational programming to science to culture, everyone is working as one big team. It's been amazing to see everyone come together."
The DRCSS employs about 100 people. When Taylor was looking for a change after serving as the school's band director for almost a decade, people started asking him why he wanted to apply for the principal position.
His number one reason was the staff.
"The staff at the DRCSS is a great group. They collaborate, work together, and are all about the students," said Schmidt. "They're doing everything they can to help the students. Whether it's in their academics or their future endeavours. Everything we do at the DRCSS, the staff are always keeping students at the centre, and do everything they can to help them out."
Keeping the staff busy is the roughly 700 students that attend the school from grades nine to 12. While this week is to recognize teachers and staff, Schmidt is quick to credit the students for their amazing work.
As Suzanne Cottyn said earlier this week.
"We wouldn't be here without them. We always appreciate our students coming and being present," said Cottyn. "Without them, we wouldn't have the opportunity to see young people learning, growing, and developing into great citizens of our community."
Taylor is proud of all that the students do daily.
"We have a wonderful school community, our students are fantastic," ended Schmidt. "In so many conversations that I have with all of our staff, they are always motivated by the students. Talking to them daily, it's always a great reminder of how great our students are. Our students are some of the best."
So, whether you're a staff member or student, great job on all your hard work and dedication.
