By Steve Dallape

Meridian Elementary Principal LaTasha Mandrell knows first-hand what it takes for a student from a place like Mounds to succeed. “You can be somebody,” she tells her students. “I walked the same halls, was in the same boat, just like you are. But you have to be determined.”

Mrs. Mandrell attended Egyptian High School, where she was a standout basketball and softball player. The second-oldest of four siblings, and the only girl, LaTasha grew up competing with her brothers, and this constant quest to one-up her siblings has turned into a strong drive to constantly better herself and bring out the best in others.

LaTasha and her brothers grew up in a single-parent household, raised by her mother alone. “We didn’t come from much, but we were grateful for what we had,” she says of those days. “We were rich in love and support. We didn’t have a father in the household, but we didn’t let that determine our path.”

LaTasha is the first person on her mother’s side of the family to earn a college degree. After high school, she attended Rend Lake College on a basketball scholarship. She then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, a master’s, and is currently working on her doctorate. She went into education to become a math teacher, and was called by her alma mater, Egyptian High School, to do her student teaching there. She ended up staying there for 14 years as a middle school math teacher, as well as a basketball and softball coach.

In her current role as elementary school principal, she believes in the importance of building relationships with her students. And it’s not difficult for her, because she grew up under similar circumstances as many of them. She knows that so many students are dealing with difficult situations outside of school, but tries to give them a little hope by sharing her story with them. Showing them that she triumphed over a lot of the same things they are battling lets them know that they can triumph, too. She lets kids know that “it’s okay to cry, to have fears… you’re not alone.” But, she also believes in taking personal responsibility. “We have to believe in our kids, and we have to show them that we care,” she says. “But, in the same sense, we have to let them know, ‘you have to be held accountable, we have high expectations for you’.”

“It’s all about building those relationships and finding those connections that we all have.”

Too often, students turn to the “blame game”, blaming others for their struggles or lack of success. LaTasha isn’t having any of it. “We have to not continue to point those fingers at others… Sometimes we’ve got to just stop and look in the mirror, and kind of focus on ‘how can I better myself?’”

That’s not to say that she advocates for letting students fend for themselves. “I believe all children can learn,” she says. “We have to support them, challenge them and believe in them, in order for them to get where we need them to be.” But, at the same time, she feels that the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual student.

“We’ve got to have a different mindset, and say ‘hey, I want to change. I can do this.’”

A big part of LaTasha’s educational philosophy is the idea that the more support that students receive, both at home and from the community at large, the greater their chance of success. To that end she has started a nonprofit organization at her alma mater called Hometown Connect. They work to bring alumni and community leaders together with students for mentorship, education and inspiration. The idea is that, by connecting students with Egyptian alumni who work in fields that they are interested in, the students can gain a better understanding of what path they need to take to get to where they want to be. And, they can see first-hand that people just like them have become successful in their fields, coming from exactly where the students themselves come from.

Another important issue for Mrs. Mandrell is community engagement. She believes that, too often, educators are seen by the public at large as occupying only that narrow role, and are often cast by students and parents as ‘the bad guy,’ just because they hold students accountable. The only time many parents or caregivers interact with educators is when there are concerns about a student’s academic performance or behavior in class, and this is often a negative experience. In order to begin to change this perception, she would like to see more engagement between educators and the public, outside of the school setting. Her hope is that people would begin to see teachers and administrators as people just like them – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. “It’s all about building those relationships and finding those connections that we all have,” she says.