Senator Ron Justice visits with students in Nancy Matheson's art class at Mustang Trails Elementary. Justice was the honorary Principal for a Day at Mustang Trails Elementary in November.

Senator Ron Justice spent the day recently as the honorary principal of Mustang Trails Elementary as part of the annual Principal for a Day Program. Justice shadowed Principal Sondra Bivens.

Bivens said he was an outstanding principal.

“My Trails' pride swelled as he repeatedly expressed how impressed he was with the classroom door greeters, the hall behavior of students with and without adult supervision, active learning in classrooms and the happy countenance of the teachers,” she said.

Justice said he was impressed with how courteous and polite the students were. Mustang Trails implements Great Expectations practices.  A student greeted Justice at every classroom door, introduced herself and then introduced Justice to the teacher.

“That was very impressive. Every single class had a greeter who would introduce me to the teacher,” Justice said. “The kids were extremely nice. I was really impressed with them, with how polite and respectful they were.”

Physical education in schools has been at the forefront of educational topics for several years. Justice spent time observing a PE class at Mustang Trails.

“Probably the thing that most surprised me, which I didn’t realize, was the PE classes,” he said. “You hear so much about physical exercise programs. The teachers were very organized and the kids seemed to participate very well.”

Justice also sampled lunch in the school cafeteria. Justice’s mother worked in a school cafeteria for 30 years, and his respect for support staff in a school is just as great as his respect for the teachers.

“They work very hard and they reach a lot of young people that many people don’t realize they are reaching,” he said. “I just think it’s important to recognize those people who are behind the scenes.”