Name: Don Aust Award: Superintendent/Principal of the Year Title: Superintendent/Principal Black Butte Union Elementary School District Region: 1 ACSA Highlights: Member since 1997; Shasta County Charter President, 2001-03 and 2016-18; Region 1 Shasta County Charter Representative; Region 1 Member Services Committee 2003-04. Don Aust says he likes challenging himself to go beyond what he thinks he can accomplish.  “School administration certainly provides that opportunity,” he said. “I wanted the opportunity to be a change force in the lives of students, parents, the community and my staff.” Aust has worked as a dual-role district leader for 15 years, which requires him to wear two hats, one focusing on student growth and empowerment, the other on evolving his district beyond the limits of a rural community. It’s the district evolution that’s he’s most proud of during his tenure at Black Butte Union ESD. “I have been able to completely upgrade the technology infrastructure, had a solar array system installed that now generates ongoing funds for the district, passed a general facilities bond that enabled the remodeling and upgrading of the elementary school site, and phase two of the bond will be implemented within the next year,” he said. Aust says the biggest compliment he’s received is knowing that he had a positive impact on the lives of his students who are now active citizens and often raising their own families. “Having had my entire career of 28 years in education within Shasta County I hear from or come across past students, who are now working in the community in various professions,” he said. “Often I don’t recognize them but they still recognize me and introduce themselves, and share with me how they appreciated me as either their teacher or principal.” What’s your favorite quote about leadership?  “It is better to have one person work with you than three people working for you.” — President Dwight D. Eisenhower What’s your best strategy for work/life balance? In the dual role of a superintendent/principal this is a tough question that I am always asking myself. I think that over the years of my career, I am learning to listen to my inner self-talk. When I hear myself saying that I need to spend more time with my family, I try to listen and carve out that needed time with them. I look for simple ways to do that, such as a Sunday watching football with my wife, or having dinner with my adult children and sons-in-law and my grandsons.  What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome to get where you are? Believing in myself and having the self-assurance that I can be a positive influence that leads to the success of my students and staff. Who is someone who inspires you? There is no way to adequately answer this question. Throughout my life, I have had many family members, friends, and colleagues that have been and continue to be examples of inspiration to me. I continue to value the opportunities to watch, listen, observe, and learn from all of the great people who I am fortunate to know and work with. The professional collaboration that has and is available through the Shasta County Office of Education, along with the local, regional, and State ACSA organization, is a constant source of inspiration for me.  My wife of 33 years is, of course, my greatest source of encouragement and inspiration. Without her support and sacrifice I would have never accomplished what I have personally or professionally.   What’s your pre-game ritual to get ready for a big meeting or presentation? I am constantly looking for an example or idea that I may use for a presentation to add relevance and meaningfulness. When I see or hear a great presentation, I write down the key takeaways that resonated with me and I will use those ideas when they fit into my big meeting or presentation. These ideas often also come from just about any source, a TV show, book, magazine article, news article, presenter at a conference, a teacher, and at times from a student comment. Once I have that main idea, I play it over and over again in my mind on how to best make the point that I am attempting to communicate.  How has ACSA supported you in your career/current position? I have attended multiple ACSA Academies along with ongoing training in all areas of professional development. In the role of a small school rural superintendent/principal, my hat rack is very long and I need to keep up to date on all areas of operating a school district and school leadership. ACSA has offered me that opportunity as well as providing me with a wealth of professional collaboration with other administrators/school leaders who I can call for advice at any time. The theme of the 2019 Leadership Summit is “Lead Well: Equity and Excellence.” What projects are you working on which have equity as their focus? Through the Shasta County Office of Education, myself and my junior high teachers are working with “Grading for Equity” with Joe Feldman. We are taking a close look at the traditional grading system to determine if it can be reshaped and refined to see if we can implement a more equitable grading system that encourages our students to stay engaged with a more positive attitude about school and to more accurately measure their academic success. As a district and with the support of the Shasta County Office of Education we are also taking a more detailed look at our attendance data and working on how to reduce our high chronic absentee rate. We know that if the students are not consistently in school, they will not have the academic growth that they are entitled to receive, resulting in a constant decline of student success in future years.