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Principal Literacy Series: What does it mean to be a literacy leader in the educational setting? [Guest, Andrew Marotta]

 



I have been a secondary building administrator in the Port Jervis school district for the past 20 years. I love Port Jervis and all the great opPORTunities it has for our kids and staff. We have lots of positive projects happening now in the district, and I have tremendous pride looking back at the past 20 years, and the progress we’ve made as a school and community.

            Andrew Marotta
One of the things I’ve tried to do over the 20 years was to be transparent and public with the information that I was sharing whether it was written, spoken, or recorded. I’ve sent out thousands of emails, given hundreds of speeches, written countless letters of recommendation, and more.  In all of these, I tried to model Literacy: creativity, interest, humor, and more.
We expect those around us to be great writers and speakers. We must model that ourselves.
When I gave a speech, I wanted it to have a deep impact, and be like a comet:  brilliant, memorable, and brief.  I was very intentional about writing the speech and delivering it.
Through many crises we managed, I thought it extremely important to communicate them effectively. Here are a few links to emergency safety letters, and different communications that I had to put out to parents and community members regarding incidents that occurred in the school.  Tt was important that these letters were timely, informative, transparent, and detail-orientated to be able to effectively reach my concerned audience.


It all goes back to literacy and being an effective communicator. If I wrote poorly or spoke poorly, it would be a bad reflection on the district, my teaching staff, and certainly I would be considered a poor role model for the students.
In all I did over the 20 years, I wanted to make sure it was done well and modeled the type of writing and speaking I was looking for in others.


Mr. Marotta and his family

Today as the district Director of Communications and Academic Services, I have more of an opPORTunity to write for the district and the community. I draft weekly emails to the district and lead the communications on Facebook and community memos, all of which require proofreading, effective communication, creativity, and more.  Again, it all goes back to literacy and connecting with the people of the Port Jervis community.


I’m happy to carry the banner for Port Jervis Schools, and it is extremely important that I am an effective communicator to do so. To be an effective communicator you must have strong literary skills to get the word out to reach your audience.
Want to write more and just not sure where to start?  Start with celebrations.  Pick people and programs that are doing awesome in your school/community and celebrate/recognize those people.  They deserve it.  If I can help you in any way don’t hesitate to reach out @andrewmarotta21 on Twitter or via my website, andrewmarotta.com.  Sign up for my weekly inspirational blog too, #ELBlog:   https://bit.ly/SignUpELBlog  
Need a speaker for your next event?  Reach out and we’ll connect! Keep rolling friends keep surviving and surviving.
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