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NOLS
Stephen Shames
DEVELOPS
LEADERS.
Facing page: NOLS' leadership curriculum will give
you the tools and confidence to become a leader in your
own life as well as the lives of others. Hurunui River, New
Zealand. Above: NOLS grad Jabali Sawicki credits his
NOLS education to his success as principal of the Excellence
Boys Charter School (left) in Brooklyn, New York.
Albert Vecerka
A CONVERSATION WITH JABALI SAWICKI
Principal, Excellence Boys Charter School; Alaska Backpacking ’93
Jabali Sawicki is the founding principal of Excellence Boys Charter School in
Brooklyn, New York, an all-boys K-8 charter school with a student body that is
99 percent African American. As a graduate of a 1993 NOLS Alaska Backpacking
course, Jabali does everything possible to expose his boys to the outdoors. He also
believes that NOLS introduced him to the leadership skills that have made Excellence
Boys one of the highest performing schools in New York. Here he reflects on
his NOLS experience and how it has led him to where he is today:
How do you apply these leadership lessons
in your everyday life? “Being a principal is
a pretty demanding job, and working at
an urban school with the expectations of
being high performing means we move
at a pretty frantic pace. I feel like I am
able to calmly and peacefully deal with
anything that comes my way. After having
carried a heavy pack up a mountain,
I’m able to face the smaller things that
might have made me anxious with confidence
and presence of mind. There is no
work more urgent than what we’re doing
at Excellence Boys. Working with an allboys
population is challenging, but being
aware of my own strengths and weaknesses
as a leader has helped me to better
serve our scholars and our families.”
What was the most important leadership
lesson you gained from NOLS? “I think of
leadership in the context of being a part
of something bigger than myself. My
NOLS experience helped me understand
what it meant to be part of a team; it
taught me that group efforts and mission
are often bigger than my own personal
efforts and mission. Excellence Boys
Charter School is only able to function
as a school because we connect our work
as school leaders and teachers to the
work and beliefs of families, the larger
community, and national education reform.
That perspective is something that
my NOLS course fundamentally altered
in a very positive and profound way. I
learned from my NOLS instructors to be
present, aware, and calm. In those moments
of calmness we learn to identify
how we can impact change and how we
can identify solutions.”
How did you first hear about NOLS?
“I heard about NOLS through Summer
Search, a program that connects inner
city students of color with leadership
opportunities while they are in high
school. I was 16-years-old when I took
my NOLS course. Initially I was more
interested in doing some community
service projects in a warm tropical environment,
but when I was encouraged to
do something that would challenge me
and push me beyond my limits, I went
with NOLS.”
Hear more from Jabali on leadership,
education, and NOLS at NOLS.TV.
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