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The Principal

May 10, 2023

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When Michael Atkins’s daughter was born, he had to scramble to find a job. He wanted to be a teacher’s aide, so he started applying to schools. But Michael didn’t have the experience for the positions he wanted. Instead, he was offered a job as a part-time custodian.

Nineteen-year-old Michael didn’t want to be a janitor, but he had made a vow to his baby daughter.

“Part of that vow was to be a strong presence in her life, and she would not grow up fatherless, whether that meant being there for her emotionally, being there for her physically,” Michael says in this episode. “I would be something for her that I never had.”

So he swallowed his pride and took the custodian job. And that’s where he met Daniel.

Daniel was, according to his teachers, “dangerous.” But Michael didn’t see it that way. He helped Daniel, listened to him and gave him advice on how to navigate the things he struggled with. His performance started improving. Michael, it turned out, had a knack for helping kids like Daniel.

“I knew there were other Daniels that needed me,” Michael says.

Eventually, Michael scored the job he wanted: teacher’s assistant. He worked with kids who were struggling with reading and writing. But he didn’t stop there: he went to college and got certified to teach. In 2006, he started with the second grade.

To Michael, it was important to be there for his students in any way he could. Parents called him for advice and had him over for dinner. He attended football games and recitals.

“I would go knock on doors and get students out of bed and bring them to school,” he says.

Michael went back to school and earned a master’s in both linguistic diverse education and leadership, which allowed him to take on his next challenge: principal at the elementary school in the neighborhood where he grew up.

Man standing in front of a brick school building.
Michael posing outside of Stedman Elementary, where he’s the principal.

Michael finally had a chance to serve the youth in his community in a way he’d only ever dreamed of. Michael gave everything to his students – he worked late and slept with his phone so he’d always be available to his school and his students. But that lack of boundaries also meant that he was neglecting the vow he’d made to his firstborn daughter and his two younger daughters. His wife, Lauren, was tired of taking on all the work at home on her own.

“I feel like a single mom,” she told him.

Man and woman in wedding clothes standing next to columns in front of lush greenery.
Michael and his wife, Lauren.

Michael was being forced to choose between his commitment to his students and the vow he made to his own kids.

To hear how Michael learned to balance these two worlds, listen to “The Principal” now.

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Learn more about the host of Home. Made., award winning journalist Stephanie Foo on our host page.

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