Ms. Patberg is our Vice Principal here at San Tan Foothills High School. She manages many facets of our school, such as organizing curriculum, and having a hand in disciplinary action. Our school couldn’t be made to be a “Place for Greatness” without Ms. Patberg’s hard work and determination. I sat down for an interview with our Vice Principal about the rise to her place now, among other things. These are the results:

 

• How long have you worked here at STFHS?

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“This is my 5th year at STFHS.”

 

• How has your job changed since you started here?

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“I came here as the Master Teacher and was doing my internship for my masters in educational administration so the first year I was half and half, master teacher intern and the next year I was co-assistant principal with Mr. Adolf, and then after he had left and Mr. Edwards became principal, I was the assistant principal.”

 

• What’s your favorite part of the job?

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“This year my role has changed, in previous years I was in charge of discipline, now I work more in curriculum and testing, counseling, and creative curriculum, and generally being proactive for working with students records  and counseling programs that benefit students and to make sure that everyone here is getting the best courses they can have and bringing in new courses, already planning for next year, finding out everything we’re going to do, We’ll be having 250 more freshman coming in. With our current freshman class at 220, our school will be growing by quite a lot.”

 

Or, as she summed up:

 

“The preemptive planning rather than the active discipline is a lot more of what I like about the job.”

 

• What’s the least favorite part of the job?

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“Meetings that take too long -- I’m more of a person of action,  so I like to be doing and planning, rather than sitting, so I like to get to the point and move on. Luckily, I don’t have to do many slow meetings.”

 

• What changes have you noticed in the school this year?

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“Oh, it’s been an amazing year. From a beautification standpoint, so far, we’ve gotten a new layer of paint, benches, and grass. With the beautiful weather Arizona provides, it’s no wonder students wanted more outdoor seating. All the money Florence poured in has really spruced up the place. Dr. Richard’s style also really changed the school for the better as well, the slogan “Place for Greatness” really sets the tone for our school. It’s all inclusive, and a great vision for how the all students can reach their full potential at our school. We’re also focusing a lot more on preparing students for life outside of high school, and getting into a college. We also have much more school spirit this year -- can’t forget that. 400 students attending the Homecoming Dance is a huge leap in the right direction for us, as all our prior dances were very small. Student Government has really improved how a lot of on-school events are ran as well.”

 

• What made you want to become a vice principal, even though it wasn’t your original placement?

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“I have a ten year business career, I originally went to school for business management and organizational management and I also worked in medical management for ten years. I took a hiatus to raise my kids who were little at the time. During this time I also coached my daughter’s team, where I found a passion for caring for kids. I was always into business, and had never really thought of working with kids as much. Coaching really sparked that passion that I hadn’t realized. That, and then I went to do some course-work to get my teaching degree. I also went into many classrooms,  and worked as a substitute teacher.and from that I decided that I wanted to change careers.

I got my teaching degree, and I started out teaching 2nd grade, and then 5th grade. However, I started to miss the business organizational side of working, because that’s what I was still born to do. So I worked to get my masters which Mr. Adolf really pushed me to do educational administration so that my job could have the best of both worlds. So that I could manage kids, and utilize my business management skills. I got to apply both of my passions of work into the dream job.”

 

          With this interview, Ms. Patberg’s career here at STFHS has been revealed! Subsequently, if you had no idea as to what a vice principal does, then you now have a general idea of their day-to-day work. I hope this article has not only shed some light on the processes behind our administration, but also served as a peek into the life of one of our amazing staff members. She’s not just an educator and administrator, she’s a friend to the students and a leader in our school.