Principal: Listening to, caring for staff's needs key to success

In an interview with Chalkbeat, Sullivan High School Principal Chad Adams, who is leading one of Chicago's most diverse high schools on a path to improvement, discusses the value of caring for teachers and what he sees at the greatest needs of students at his school, as well.Adams said his mentor once told him, "If you don’t feed the teachers, they'll eat the kids"  — a philosophy that led him to prioritize building relationships with teachers and listening to their needs as a key component in helping them better care for students.Adams also stresses the importance of relationship building with students as a crucial factor in helping them face some of their biggest challenges: dealing with adverse circumstances in their lives, adapting to a new culture, learning the study skills needed to succeed in high school, and navigating the pitfalls of social media.No matter how diverse their backgrounds and abilities, teachers, principals and students share one thing in common: they are all human. As such, they all have basic human needs to be heard, understood and accepted. While much of education has become sterilized and digitized in modern society, recognizing the very human emotional needs of teachers and students is the responsibility of a good principal.