Educational Leadership with Principal JL
Principal JL is an educational leader who explores various topics facing educational leaders today! The Mission of this podcast is to inform and inspire other Educational Leaders on how to be their best for their Schools by honing their skills and talents so they may impact their teachers, staff members, students, parents/guardians, and community members positively for their School District! Come with a Growth Mindset as we journey through Educational Leadership!
Educational Leadership with Principal JL
Episode 28: Navigating School Leadership: Identity, Culture, and Lessons from Dr. Cynthia Rapaido
From reluctant administrator to award-winning principal, Dr. Cynthia Rapaido's remarkable 30-year journey through educational leadership offers powerful insights for anyone considering school administration. What began as an academic exercise to move up the salary scale unexpectedly blossomed into a 22-year administrative career spanning assistant principalship, principalship, and higher education mentoring.
Dr. Rapaido's story uniquely illuminates the intersection of cultural identity and educational leadership. As a Filipino woman navigating leadership roles traditionally dominated by different voices, she learned to balance her cultural values emphasizing harmony with the directness required for effective administration. Her powerful account of finding her voice—learning that "we can agree to disagree"—serves as an inspiring example for leaders from all backgrounds struggling to reconcile personal identity with professional expectations.
The conversation delves deep into the foundation of effective school leadership: knowing yourself. Dr. Rapaido describes the "fruit leadership style chart" from her book "Step Up Your School Leadership Game," which helps administrators identify their natural strengths and approaches. She emphasizes the critical importance of understanding your core values and non-negotiables before stepping into leadership positions, ensuring alignment between personal philosophy and school or district culture.
For current administrators struggling with work-life balance, Dr. Rapaido offers practical wisdom about scheduling "big rocks"—the activities that provide restoration and reflection—and being fully present during those times. Her approach to leadership development extends beyond technique to encompass holistic well-being, something often overlooked in leadership training.
Whether you're a teacher considering administration, a new principal seeking guidance, or an experienced leader looking to mentor others, this episode provides both practical strategies and philosophical depth. Connect with Dr. Rapaido through LinkedIn or email (crapaido@gmail.com) to learn more about her leadership development work and how you might benefit from her experiences as you build your own educational leadership identity. What leadership fruit are you?
Connect with Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:
email: crapaido@gmail.com
Book: "Step Up Your School Leadership Game"
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Today I am thrilled to welcome Dr Cynthia Rapaido to the podcast. She is a longtime educator and leader with over 30 years of experience in California schools, serving as a teacher, assistant, principal, principal and higher education mentor. She holds an educational doctorate in international and multicultural education and recently published her first book called Step Up your School Leadership Game a guide for new administrators. An award-winning leader and passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, Dr Rapaido continues to coach and inspire educators across all levels. Now here is our conversation. Welcome back, everybody for another episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast. Today I have a special guest, Dr Cynthia Rapaido. Cynthia, welcome to the show.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Thank you. Thank you for having me, Jeff.
Principal JL:All right, I like to start off asking every guest the same question what inspired you to pursue a career in education.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:It's funny that you asked that question, because when I was in college I didn't even think about going into education at all. I was a biology major, thinking I was going to go into the medical field and I was even doing. I was a candy striper, I was working in the surgical office, a surgical room, and just trying to navigate my way around the hospital in terms of careers just trying to navigate my way around the hospital in terms of careers. But there was this opening at San Diego State where they were looking for peer advisors, which were college students going on to the high school campuses and trying to help the high school students apply for colleges.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:And I thought, oh well, that's me, because I didn't know much about getting into college, I kind of fell through the cracks. So I didn't know I had to take the SAT, I didn't know that I had to have a certain GPA, certain courses, and then by doing that that got me into coaching or mentoring high school kids and so I loved that. And then I just totally went the opposite direction. I said, okay, I'm getting a biology degree and I'm going to teach high school biology. So that was my route and didn't go the medical field way my route and didn't go the medical field way.
Principal JL:Well, that's really interesting. The more I do this podcast, the more I learned that a lot of people that get into education may not be thinking about education as a first career choice. And that was kind of like my journey as well, Like I thought I was going to go become a physical therapist but it wasn't until I got into coaching and I decided you know what I really like this teaching gig and the education side, so that really inspired me to get into education. So it's really fun to hear how people get into education and pursue their careers. So let's share a little bit about your early years in the classroom. What subjects or grades did you teach and what did you love most about teaching?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I was a biology teacher biology, life science and when I got hired, my first year it was biology, chemistry, human anatomy. Second year, chemistry. There was one more. So all of the classes were different. So I had five different prep periods. I didn't know, I couldn't keep up with all of the different classes in terms of, okay, which one am I going to do the lesson plan first, but I didn't have anything to compare it to Knowing. Now it's like, okay, I should have just taken one that had just two classes that I can really focus on.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:But what did I love about that? I loved connecting with the kids and I love the kids. They were high school kids, ninth graders to seniors. The seniors were, you know, the ones that were smart and were already thinking about college. And then you had the ones that were smart and were already thinking about college, and then you had the squirrely little ninth graders that I really loved connecting with the life science ones. Oh, one of them was like the EL life science. So, just being able to connect with the kids and turning them on to science, I just wanted to make sure that they loved science and I didn't want them to, you know, not like science. After they took me as a teacher. So I said if they're going to take life science, they're going to want to go on to biology. If they take biology, they're going to want to take chemistry. So that was my goal was for them to fall in love with science.
Principal JL:You bet I mean that's great. I was a math teacher and you know how people love math, but you know, I think that was part of my goal as a teacher as well, where I was like you know what. You may not love the subject that I teach, but my goal is to help you at least like it, or at least you know, develop appreciation of the work. The work and so it sounds like you you had that same type of experience as well as a science teacher is to help kids really love it and fall in love with that, that same subject area that you're passionate about and what I've learned. You know, if you're passionate about something, the kids will be passionate about it as well. You know, you kind of talked about your, you know your teaching here a little bit, but let's really get to. What we really want to know about is what got you to think about becoming a school leader, what motivated you to transition from teacher into administration?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Good question. I was in my seventh year of teaching. I was in my seventh year of teaching, there was that salary schedule and knowing that I had to, I wasn't going to move very far along in terms of the payroll. So I thought I'm going to take some more classes just to go up in the scale and just said, well, I think I'm going to get my master's and I'll get a credential in administrative services. And so I took the classes and one of the requirements for the last, the very last class was come up with a resume, come up with your cover letter and apply. I thought, okay, I'll just write my cover letter and apply as an assignment, because I already got a. You know, I got an A on my resume. I thought, oh good, okay, so let's see what happens.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:And I got interviewed and I thought now what do I do? Do I really want to do that or do I want to go into? No, what do I want? To stay in teaching? Um, and so I talked with my principal and he said Cynthia, you've been doing stuff that's leadership role, you're doing after-school program. He said, cynthia, you've been doing stuff that's leadership role You're doing after school program. You know, you're club advisor. You've been working with the district office. That's because I like these things. But I don't know what. I don't know. And he said well, you're going to, we're going to give you a walkie talkie and we're going to let you sub for a little bit while somebody else is gone and see what happens. You know if you like it or not. And so he gave me that opportunity to do that.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I thought it was just kind of awkward to be at my own school site and seeing my kids, and now they see me with the walkie talkie. And here I am. I told the kids. I said, if you get in trouble and you get sent to the office, you are going to do double time with me. I'm going to give you double suspension or whatever. It was class time, because I'm telling you now that I'm going to be out there, as you know, doing administration work. And they laughed, of course, the kids, you know they were behaving, but that's what got me into educational leadership as an AP. So I got the job, took the job and and I didn't think I was going to enjoy it Um did it for one year and I thought I'm not going to survive this first year. Um, this is crazy, but who do people doing this? And so year one became year two, and that year two became year 17. 17. And then I went into principalship and did another five years.
Principal JL:All right, let's talk about your assistant principalship a little bit. With that role, what are some key lessons or moments that you really shaped your leadership style? What really shaped you as a leader, as an AP, before you got into that principalship?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:When I was an AP, I thought that was all I wanted to be. I didn't have, I wasn't interested in going up the ladder and becoming a principal. But then when I was talking with the kids, they would introduce me to their mom or I would see them at the game and then they would say, oh, you're the principal, and I would say, no, I'm your assistant principal. And thinking, okay, if they think I'm their principal, then I'm going to pretend I'm the principal and I would walk around the campus and go hi, I would think of what does my principal do? No, she's out there, visible in front of everybody, stands in the hallway and thinking, okay, what do I need to do to make myself visible to not just the students but now the faculty? Because I needed to be a leader in that, and so finding a mentor to help me learn the other areas that weren't my strengths really helped me.
Principal JL:After being an AP for 17 years, you stepped into the principalship role. What was that? Like you know, going from AP to a principalship, because they're kind of you know they're the same but yet there's two different worlds there. How was that transition? What are some big takeaways? You could talk about being that principal of the building and having the weight of that position on you where maybe you didn't have that as an AP at times.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I think you know the big difference between that is you know, as an AP, you're second in command and so you, you humbly, you know, follow the lead and you follow and align everything with your leader, whether it's you know, your principal and the district office. But then becoming the principal is being able to identify who I am as a leader is really important. And then what are my goals and visions for the school and how do I align that with the district office and how do I lead everybody? It's not just a team, not just a department, but now it's everybody. It's not just a team, not just a department, but now it's everybody. And, as you had mentioned in some of your podcasts, it's like building those relationships with the cafeteria person or the students, the paraprofessionals, and making them visible, because it's the whole school.
Principal JL:Yeah, you bet. So really that principal role I agree with that is where you really how do you get everybody to row the boat in the same direction, how do you get everybody to collaborate, work together? And that really comes from the top to where. If you have that value and you believe in that, that's going to transpire down all the way into your students. So people don't realize, and even studies and research has shown that that principalship is really key to helping your teachers learn and grow. But everybody learn and grow, not just your teachers, but your staff, your paraprofessionals, your custodians, everybody all the way down to the students. And so that's kind of the role that principalship really has.
Principal JL:But let's talk about next transitioning from being a principal and you got into higher education. What was the reasoning for that? What prompted you to go? Hey, you know I really love what I'm doing, but you know what I want to take this next step into higher education, educational coaching. You know, does something. Was that something you planned or was that something that kind of just naturally happened for you?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:It wasn't planned and it wasn't natural. I had gone through some PD that the district wanted us to do. One of the PDs was on Courageous Conversations with Glenn Singleton and I thought that was so powerful and I thought how did he do that? How is he able to speak in front of administrators and talk about race? Because when I sat in the room I'm thinking, okay, I'm a female and I'm a person of color, but there was a lot of other people that were white and for him to have those conversations and kind of make us realize our race, our ethnicity, I thought I want to go back, I want to figure out what, how he did that, what did he study to be in that position? And I couldn't find a degree in that.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:But I then I looked at USF and USF, the University of San Francisco. They had a multicultural, international and multicultural education program and that's when I thought I want to study that, because now I'm going to see things internationally and multiculturally and just being more sensitive. And then that's where I thought I'm going to study that. And then I want to teach that at the university and I want to be with the administrators so I could teach them. So that way it becomes part of the admin credential program and then they can go back to their school and lead. So that was where I was thinking of that kind of picture.
Principal JL:Yeah. So it sounds kind of like you saw something there was a need for and you're like you know what. That'd be really great if I can help that process, because I see this person really putting themselves out there and talking about these things that are very important. And how can I help? You know, lead the charge in that way, and so that's really great and powerful that you know you were able to recognize that, but then not just recognize it but actually go and do it Right. Yeah, yeah. So that's so. Was that part of your dissertation, your doctoral work? When you were going back and doing that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:It became so. My doctoral work was titled Filipino American Educational Leaders in Northern California K-12 Public Schools Challenges and Opportunities, because it became the awareness of where are people that look like me? I am not seeing anybody that's Filipino. I might see some Asians you know the bigger race group but where are the Filipinos? And trying to find them as participants in my study, I only had like six participants. I couldn't find them, and so that became a huge passion of mine, and then it became an awareness of the learning of it all.
Principal JL:You bet. So you know through that you have been a lecturer, you have been a dissertation chair through your time working in the university, as well as a university supervisor. Now tell me if I'm right on these. So the University of California, berkeley, the University of San Francisco, the California State University of East Bay is that correct on that one? Yes, did I get that one? Okay. So so, through these experiences, how were these experiences in higher education complement your work in K-12? How did you know doing that work complement that work that you previously did?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:So now, as a university supervisor, I'm working with teachers that are just entering the profession, trying to get their credentials, so it's inspiring them at the same time guiding them in terms of all the credential requirements to meet so that way they can get hired. So of course, we want good educators. And how can I help? It's all about how can I give, what can I give? How can I help you know beginning teachers or people going to you know into teaching? How can I help administrators aspire, help people aspire to different positions in education? So that was really huge for me.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:And so, in terms of all those different roles dissertation advisor, somebody had found me and said, hey, I'm doing something on Filipino Americans and I don't have any Filipino Americans where I live and they were like in Wisconsin, I think, and I felt great, this is a platform that I'm familiar with. I will be your dissertation advisor. So empowering her to do her dissertation and help her navigate the doctoral program, that was a lot of fun. But at the university level, all those different positions, it all goes back to serving in that servant leadership role and just helping the pipeline of educators, Because not only do we need teachers, we need educational leaders.
Principal JL:You bet, you bet, and that's kind of the overall purpose of this podcast is to try to inspire that next generation of educational leaders and kind of give them the ins and outs of what it's like to be an educational leader, because there's not a lot out there for us and so, if anything that we can do to inspire the next generation because guess what, education doesn't go away we're going to have generations of education all the way down. I know we're kind of in that moment of time where it's, you know, being in education may not be the most glamorous job, but it's a very needed job and not a lot of people are getting into it for a lot of different reasons. I won't get into them, but it just comes down to it's becoming, like on my side, becoming harder and harder to get people to, you know, apply and for openings and like right now I have an opening and I only have a couple of candidates and it's kind of like, oh man, you used to have like 20 for this, you know, and now it's kind of just whittled down. But then that's where you got to get creative on how you hire and how you grow your own so you can have a workforce to come back. So it sounds like you're kind of developing and growing that workforce for education in those roles. So let's talk about your book.
Principal JL:Step Up your School Leadership Game. You know what led you to write the book. Was there a defining moment? What made you feel compelled to write this book?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I felt, you know, that I needed a book when I, when I went into education not just education, but as a assistant principal there were so many things that I didn't know that I wish I would have known. And trying to find books for beginners or or aspiring people. That's what inspired me to write the book. It's a mentor, it's a $25 mentor, for the rest of your life. You can pull it out of the shelf and go what do I need to do? Or what was that advice that was given? That's what inspired me, because I know that not everybody goes back to school per se to get a doctorate or get their master's, or they might not know the duties of an administrator. Sometimes, from a teacher's perspective, they want to separate themselves and they say, oh, you went to the dark side, but it's really not the dark side. It's like we're all in this together. There is no dark side. And to break that mindset of that and to say we're here together, whether you're the custodian, we're here. We're here to support you. That's what that book is about.
Principal JL:Is for teachers, teachers, for administrators, for people who don't know what they do, what we do it's it's for them you know, it's really awesome that you have this book for those aspiring administrator even for the current administrators that may are, you know, curious, can they do something better or to get better at something. So it's really great that you have something out there for people to have. So you know, with that book, what do you think is some of the biggest takeaway that you would want a new or aspiring administrator to have you know from that book when they read it?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I think it's like the first section is probably the key, which is know yourself. Know yourself as a leader. There's activities. I came up with a fruit leadership style chart where you can identify your strengths as a leader. And then there's also the multifaceted identity who are you as a leader, who are you working with? And then there's also the multifaceted identity who are you as a leader, who are you working with? And then building that emotional intelligence with all the different people you work with. And then knowing your core values, your non-negotiables and the goals for the school. So that's that first section. Wherever you go, at least if you know how you are, and then you can kind of assess okay, what's Jeff like? What fruit style is he? And then I would be able to work better with you based on what you describe as your fruit leadership style or your multifaceted identity. You bet.
Principal JL:Yeah, that's really powerful for people to know is kind of know what their style is, who they are, what do they value. Because, just like people, districts are different. They have different alignments, they have different values, they have different expectations. And you got to make sure, yeah, you may want to go into becoming an administrator or principal, but you have to make sure that district you aligned with that district. Because if you get into a district you're not aligned with, you won't enjoy it, it's not going to be a good time for you because you're not going to have the same values and you're not going to have the same goals that you would if you knew who you were and you knew how to align yourself to that district.
Principal JL:And I think that's really important for people to really understand that piece, because you can go become a principal somewhere, but make sure it's the right fit. And when you get into that and you do these interviews, you just know like, yeah, these things check off, these things work well. I know I'm going to be successful here because of what my values are aligned with theirs and we're going to be able to work together and to create that school environment that you really want to achieve with that. So that's what I hear you say on that, and I think that's really powerful for people to know when it comes down to that. I love how you said that too.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Jeff, it's so important to know what the district wants and if our values are aligned, and that is really important.
Principal JL:I know for me and my journey, when I did some interviewing and stuff like that, if I got into a district and we weren't aligned to it even if they would offer me the job I knew I was saying no. I knew that wasn't the place or just because there wasn't alignment If you don't have alignment, that's not going to be beneficial for you, it's not going to be beneficial for that district and your staff as well, and I think that's really important to know when you're out there seeking those jobs. You got to know who you are so you can align to that, and I think that's really important to know when you're out there seeking those jobs. You got to know who you are so you can align to that. So I think that's really really important for people to understand. I really want to highlight that. So let's talk about your work a little bit. Equity and social justice are part of the heart of your work. How do you integrate multicultural competence and emotional intelligence in the school, leadership and coaching?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:In the coaching. I think what's really important is knowing, or at least exposing them to those different areas If they're coming from an affluent neighborhood and looking at privileges and looking at privileges or they may be of privileged background being aware of certain biases or unconscious biases, and breaking down those barriers. It's really important to understand, okay, multicultural or multifaceted identities. What does that look like? When we say multifaceted identities, it can be well. What was our upbringing?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I'm a military brat and so I traveled to different places. I went to different schools in Connecticut and California and the Philippines, so my background is a lot different, even though I'm Filipino. I have a lot of patriotism in that sense. So if I were to say, okay, what do I bring to the table, I think by going back to you or to my administrators or those that I coach, I would also ask so tell me about yourself, what's your multifaceted identity? What's your background? Does your background value education? Or it could be. You know, some Asian cultures value wealth more than well. In education, you have to be at the top of the schools. So what are our values? And just breaking down those barriers is really important to become aware of our biases, like I was mentioning.
Principal JL:I think one thing we kind of you are a military brat. I was in the military for eight years as a reservist. So that's kind of a unique coincidence, right. I served eight years in the Army Reserve. I did a couple of deployments I did one in El Salvador, did one during the Iraqi war and during freedom operations.
Principal JL:So I got to see a lot of different cultures. I got to see and experience a lot of different types of people around, not just the United States but the world, but the world. So when I got into education I knew there was a bigger world out there than what I grew up in Nebraska. And I also grew up in a community in Nebraska that a huge Hispanic population. So I grew up around you know Hispanic culture as well as the culture that I grew up with in America.
Principal JL:So you know you may think Nebraska doesn't have diversity. There's a lot more diversity than people might give it credit for. So just my own. You know history and my experiences have really helped me understand the different cultural settings that other people have. You know spending time in the South. You know in the South in the United States it's much different than the Midwest or even the Upper Northeast, and you know every you know area of the United States has its own like young culture really.
Principal JL:Yeah, but we're all together when it comes to being Americans and I think understanding different cultures and their beliefs and how they view things helps you understand where they're coming from. And if you can understand where they're coming from, you can really break down some barriers and be able to work together but have an understanding of each other's background. And I think that's really important because, no matter if you're in Nebraska, where I'm at, or in California, you're going to see diversity across the board, and being able to work with different people from different backgrounds and cultures is super important because you got to be able to understand them, they got to be able to understand you and you got to be able to work together when it comes to making your school the best it can be. So I think that's really awesome that you know you kind of. That's kind of your work and what you're trying to do here. And so, cynthia, your research interests range from school climate to colonialism impact on education. What are you currently exploring and what questions keep you curious?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I think between the two, the two things I could say about the school climate and colonialism, those in the spectrum I still look at.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Or still I'm curious about my identity as a Filipino woman. Or still I'm curious about my identity as a Filipino woman, my barriers, my own personal barriers because of the cultural expectations of being more quiet, listen to authority, but if I'm the authority person or person of authority, I need to be able to have a voice, whereas in my culture we're not supposed to have much of a voice because we're respecting, of respecting other people, being more mindful of others and not just always inserting my own ideas. That's in the, in the culture. And of course there's a hierarchy and so trying to break down those hierarchy, ways of communicating, to be an effective leader and then working with as I'm seeing other Filipino American educational leaders go into the role, I see them struggling with it and they're new, and I just tell them you got to break through that, even practice with me. And they say how? Because it's so ingrained in our culture to be not submissive but just being more. It is kind of being submissive without a voice and being able to speak out, would you say more passive?
Principal JL:Is that a good term?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I wouldn't say necessarily passive. They want harmony, and so they don't want conflict, and so they won't disagree. They will agree for the sake of harmony.
Principal JL:I get you there, I get you. So it sounds like you know, with leadership in this role you're going to have conflict and it sounds like with your background, in your cultural identity, conflict is something that you know in your culture don't necessarily like and you want to kind of just kind of like, okay, let's kind of get this problem solved real quick so I don't have to work through that anymore. So can you have a story that kind of talks about how you had a conflict and how that challenging of working through that conflict because of your cultural background, you know how did you persevere through that? Could you have a story that kind of lines up to that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Yeah, sure, well, I can think of.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:You know one story where I was working with an assistant principal who was very dominant, very direct, yeah, very, very direct.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:So he was my counterpart and he would say, cynthia, because I need to know, I like it when you get mad, because you need to have more direct with what you need to say. And I just thought, well, yes, I am, I am upset. But at one point there was this time where he, he stuck a note in my mailbox and on the, on the paper paper, he said you need to communicate with me. This is bullshit. And I forgot what the story was and what it was about. But by getting that in my mailbox, I didn't want to confront him. I was so upset and angry to tell him off. So then I went to my boss, my principal, and I said you know, jackie, look at what he wrote. I go, I'm really, really upset that he wrote this memo in my mailbox. And she said well, you should tell him. And I said tell him. I'm thinking in my head but you're my boss, you're my hierarchy, I'm reporting it to you so that you can address it and not for me to address it because he's my equal. And so I'm thinking of the hierarchy part and I'm reporting it. And she said no, cynthia, you know, he needs to hear it from you that you're upset. And so all this was bubbling inside of me Like I don't want to, I don't want to talk to him. My stomach was feeling, you know, like it don't, I don't want to have this conversation. Um, and he came looking for me.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:By then it was, you know, three hours, four hours, since I've seen the note. And he said did you get my note? And I said I did, because I was thinking in my head how am I going to address this? And he said well, and I said well, and he goes. Why didn't you talk to me? Because I told you to communicate. Well, and he goes. Why didn't you talk to me? Because I told you to communicate. I said well because, rich, one, just the tone of your memo. And two, I'm not going to respond to you when you use profanity like that. You know, if you need to talk to me, then you come. You know, see me and be civil about it.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:He said that's good, you know, tell me, you know you need to be, you know, say it, just like that. And I said okay, and by after having that, the guts to say what I needed to say, then I thought, okay, he's now giving me permission to be direct, which actually helped me grow as a leader. So then I would start kind of like inserting my just to push buttons Okay, now I can disagree. And my principal said, cynthia, we can agree to disagree. And I thought in my head I've never heard that before, I've never heard that comment we can agree to disagree. And so then I would turn that on Rich and say Rich, we can agree to disagree. That's a huge step to know that we don't have to always get along in that way or have to agree on things.
Principal JL:And I think really that story sounds like to me is something you could take with you and utilize into your principalship, because, as a principal, we want to be able to empower our staff to have those adult conversations. Because, as a principal, if we're fixing our staff's problems all the time, we ain't going to get anything done that we need to get done as well.
Principal JL:So you know, to me that's really an empowering story that helped, empowered you, um, through that word. Did that help you empower other people? Um, through that lesson that you had, so did that teach you how to empower other people to do the same thing for for themselves?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I think so. Um, because I would tell people the same thing it's okay to disagree, we can agree to disagree. Of a parent coming in to you know, appeal a suspension. We can agree to disagree. Um, otherwise I would have backtracked my suspension and said, okay, maybe I'll just do detention instead. No, it's okay, if you want to appeal it, there's a process as well. So, whether it's a parent or a teacher staff member, that was for me to do that, but at the same time, I would tell other people to do that as well. You know, you can disagree with your department, you don't always have to agree.
Principal JL:You go oh, I have work this time, I'm going to do it again. So I think, being able to stand your ground on things, you just got to be able to do that within that role in educational leadership. And so I really thank you for that story, because that really is something that is really impactful for other people to know and learn that you may not agree with everything but it's OK, like that's where the agree to disagree philosophy comes in, and I thank you for sharing that story. So you've been honored with some incredible recognitions. You've been named one of the 100 most influential Filipino women in the US. With that acknowledgement, what does that mean personally and professionally to you With that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:particular award, being, you know, one of the top 100 Filipinas. Of course, that means a lot to me in a personal level because it honors my background. My parents were able to attend the award ceremony to validate them all their struggles of immigrating from the Philippines, my dad joining the Navy, the life that he led in that role, in that career, so that was really meaningful for me personally and then professionally, just being able to say okay, I think you know there's some credibility here with, you know, having a voice, having a platform, I'm a leader, I'm a true leader and I don't have to be such a dominant person. I can still be my caring self and but use my voice, use my, my space to educate others and and be that, that person that's helping everybody.
Principal JL:You bet. So outside of your professional life, you enjoy music, skating, making handcraft, jewelry, and how do you balance? You know, your work life, your hobbies and your work life. How do you balance that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Well, nowadays, I think it's really important to know those where the big rocks are. The big rocks you know, whatever those rocks are you know, put them on your calendar. So if exercise is important, put it on your calendar, or put it on my calendar. Going dancing, I'm going to do it. Play the piano, let's put in an hour into the calendar, and that's pretty much.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:The main thing is making time for a real life, because our work is going to be there as we right. Our work is 24 7 and if we don't unplug, then time is passing by. And how are we taking care of our own health? How are we? How are we restoring our own energy? So I think that's really important to be reflective of that and taking the time to do some kind of reflection. So, like I say, if it's music, music just takes me away into another dimension where I'm present. With the music, I'm singing the lyrics, I don't have time to think of worries because I'm present. So, I think, making sure that there's time for that and then, if there's time for reflection so if I'm making jewelry, I'm sitting quietly but I'm able to reflect and be I think people get the same kind of feeling when they're cooking in the kitchen where they're feeling okay. I'm in this mode, I'm present, but I'm thinking so, making sure there's relaxation and reflection time.
Principal JL:Those are all really great tips.
Principal JL:I really like the idea of putting it on your calendar, making time, holding that space.
Principal JL:So you do do those things because, like for me, if I don't write it down or put it on something to where I remember, I'll forget about it. So I think that's a really great piece of advice to hey make time for the things that are important and then, when you are doing those things, stay in present, you know, with those things especially, you know if you have a family or things like that be present with them and leave that work in the rear view mirror, because it's going to be there when you get back. And so don't think you got to get everything done in one day, because your job's never done. You're always got something to do and you're always got something to pick up when you get back into that mode when you get there. But so when you're out of that, make sure you're present with the things that bring you joy, things that help you bring that balance to your work, so you can go in refreshed and renewed and not you know, stressed out because you're worrying about everything else from the day before.
Principal JL:So I really love that advice that you gave there as well. Is there anything in education that gives you hope for the future? Is there? What hope do you have for the future of education?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I think just the kids. They give me the hope. I mean we see the little kids and we see whether they're elementary kids or they're middle school, high school kids. They're kids and there's innocence with that and there's the love of learning and I think those that go into education we are nurturing. We want our kids to learn a different group of people who really care about our future and generations of that. So I mean we lead by example. So whether we're reading books or we're reading books to them and they're reading, you know books to others.
Principal JL:It's a nice cycle, and so that's what gives me, you know, the wonderful hope of piece of advice that you can give to the school leaders out there that are listening to this podcast right now. What would that advice be?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:I would say don't wait to be tapped on the shoulder. You might not know everything, you might not know what the next role is going to be, but not everybody's going to tap you on the shoulder to go into the next career ladder and to find mentors. Find mentors, ask them. You know, will you be my mentor, jeff? I don't know what it's like to be a principal, but I really want to be a principal, or maybe I don't want to be a principal. Or can you teach me some of the things that you do? Or can I shadow you?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Any of those can be ideas and, at the same time, as educational leaders, we need to be responsible too, to have people and not just always pick the ones that are the most active, because it could be also the quiet ones that will grow from it. So, again, the mentoring, supporting each other. There was one more, not just oh, and networking. It's so important to network, and so I think this podcast that you have I mean it's reaching so many people that are going into educational leadership the ability to network in this kind of group, as well as join organizations, just like in your state, my state. Find the organizations that represent administrators, join the national one. Get on the board because you can go to these events, but then if you can serve on the board, it's even bigger of a network. So that's what my advice would be is to do those Network, join organizations, find mentors, support each other and don't don't wait to be tapped.
Principal JL:Those are all great pieces of advice there, cynthia, and I agree, like you know, for me, you know, yes, I had someone in my life that encouraged me because I had no you know, no desire to be a principal, but it wasn't until I started reflecting, like maybe I can do this.
Principal JL:But I really love the fact about networking, getting with your state, your local, your regional organizations as well, because that's going to give you more people to connect with that are on the same journey as you are, because when we get into these principal ships, we will be in districts where we might be the only principal, we might be the only administrator, and so we need other people to stay connected. And that's also a good reason for my podcast is to try to connect with other educational leaders and help them so they don't feel isolated. They have something they can go to and go. Hey, what did Cynthia talk about? I'd really love to hear that episode again and have that there. And so, cynthia, if people wanted to reach out and get in touch with you, how could they do that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:with you.
Principal JL:How could they do that?
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:They can go to my LinkedIn site, Cynthia Rapaido. They can also email me crapaido at gmailcom. But those are the two main ones. And then I also have my book. That has the information in there, too, that they could find me as a mentor if they need some kind of direction.
Principal JL:And what I'll do, Cynthia, is I'll have all that information in the show notes for this episode so people can easily find that when they scroll down and they can click on those things. So we'll have all that there for them. So I really appreciate you coming on the show today. It was really great to have you and there's a lot of great insights today. So thank you, Cynthia, for being here today.
Dr. Cynthia Rapaido:Thank you too, jeff. This was a wonderful episode that you did with me, so thank you so much. Take care, jeff.
Principal JL:Wow, what a great conversation with Dr Cynthia Rapaido. I am thankful for her sharing incredible insights on our leadership, mentorship and building inclusive school communities. Her passion for empowering educators and shaping the next generation of leaders truly shines through. If you would like to learn more about her work, be sure to check out her new book Step Up your School Leadership Game. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. It's an absolute honor having Dr Cynthia Rapaido on the podcast. Until next time, remember to be 1% better.
