Second in a series
Re “Not Surprisingly, Pearson Is Right Person for Torrance District”
In bidding farewell to Culver City Middle School Principal Jon Pearson, entering his final 30 days, Supt. Dave LaRose sized him up as an ideal administrator. “He is appreciated, respected and well-liked by the children, staff, families and certainly his administrative colleagues,” Mr. LaRose said.
“Jon brings a genuine and sincere enthusiasm and passion for children, a good sense of humor. His affinity for students, particularly at that middle level, is significant.
“If you are talking to staff, students or parents, they would all give the same impression, that Jon is a good listener, supportive of their concerns.
“That type of enthusiasm and ability to connect on the relational level,” said Mr. LaRose, “is critical for effective school leadership.”
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This playtime shot of fun-loving Jon Pearson was captured by photographer George Laase during at Fiesta La Ballona two summers ago.
Wheeling into one of his trademark pithy aphorisms – the body of which has sprung the superintendent to broad popularity in less than two years – Mr. LaRose said that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
“Jon puts relationships and connecting with people first.”
Keep It Moving
As Mr. Pearson warms up for his July 1 promotion to a new, vortex-centric administrative position in the Torrance Unified School District, Culver City is losing and Torrance is gaining a one-man, lower-case environmental protection agency. He delivers a fresh tank of energy everywhere he pauses.
When the newspaper caught up with him, Mr. Pearson dually was talking and moving just above the speed limit.
Who cared where the punctuation marks belonged in his rapid-fire talk?
“Gotta get these things off my desk,” he said with a laugh and a sweep during a cleaning burst. “Gotta keep moving. Shaking. What’s next? Bring it on, you know?”
“That is how you survive on this job,” Mr. Pearson said. “You have to keep moving things off your desk.”
Within the last year, he has been scouting “for new challenges,” after seven years in the School District, the last six as principal.
As he said yesterday, the job and directional change was dictated by his nature, what he calls “a seven-, eight-year itch. Luckily, my marriage survived longer.”
The nature of Mr. Pearson’s new position:
“Director of student services and the Family Welcome Center, a district office position that is definitely a promotion.
“You need to have a successful principalship,” he said, “in order to earn the right to interview for a director job at a district office.”
(To be continued)
