In her second year at Aurora Science & Tech High School, Associate School Director Gina Schmid has made it unmistakably clear that she's not the kind of leader who leads from a distance. Instead, you'll find her in classrooms, in the hallways, at games, or wherever her students and staff are.
Schmid brings seven years of classroom and leadership experience to a role that is, at its core, about people. She has taught world history, US history, and AP European history to students in grades 7 through 11, served as a Principal in Residence at Chattanooga Preparatory School, and is currently pursuing a second master's degree through Columbia University's Summer Principals Academy. She was recognized as her school's Teacher of the Year in 2023-24. And still, she'll tell you the students are the ones teaching her.
"Truthfully, my students' work impacts me more than I feel my own work impacts them," Schmid said. "I can do my job because of the privilege of working alongside these students."
That humility is what makes her so effective. For Schmid, the stakes have never been abstract.
"This work matters to me because our kids matter," she said. "I believe education is a basic human right, and as a nation and community, our students deserve to have consistency, compassion, and learning."
Schmid shows up day in and day out, always living up to those words.
She shows up in classrooms, in the hallways, on the court, and on the field, always, as she puts it, "with a huge smile on my face and high fives and fist bumps."
Schmid believes the work students are doing every day deserves to be celebrated, loudly and often. And she measures her impact not by what she gives, but by what students give back.
"An educator's impact isn't always seen immediately," she said, "but I see mine reflected in how students engage and in the fact that they keep showing up at school with the mindset of trying again."
That is what she's working toward every single day. And if you want to find her, don't look in the office. Look in the hallway. She'll be the one with the big smile and an outstretched hand, ready to celebrate whatever a student just did.