My name is George Couros, and I am currently a Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning with Parkland School Division, located in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.  The schools are from ages K-12, and I love working with kids of all ages.  I am passionate about distributed leadership within my division, and believe that creating a collaborative environment with all stakeholders, will help to ensure that we meet the best needs of all children.

Personally, I am someone who is passionate about all of the things that I do.  I believe that we must continuously “sharpen the saw” by taking part in other pursuits, so I am actively involved as a fitness instructor with World Health Edmonton.  I love running and sports, and am a HUGE fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.  In fact, I have two dogs now that are named after a current and former Laker (Odom and Shaq). I do miss my dog Kobe who was my first pet ever (miss you buddy).

Music is also a passion of mine.  If you are ever interested in hearing what I like, check out my #georgegtunes that I post on Twitter for the world to hear. The more well rounded we are as educators, I believe, the more our students will see us as real people that they can connect with in the classroom.

I am originally from the small town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan and my parents are originally immigrants from Greece.  I am the youngest of four, and my brother, Dr. Alec Couros, is also in the field of education.  We work closely together through our social networks to help build environments that best meet the needs of students in a continuously changing environment.  I believe in the power of students, and that all of the children we can teach can be leaders if we help them find their passion.  My parents came from a country that was going through a war and did not have the resources or same opportunities that we had for education.  They stressed the importance of education for their kids, and are my inspiration in my career as an educator, as detailed in this post I guest wrote for another educator’s blog.

It is important to me that we always work to get the “best ideas” for our students, and I appreciate discussion when talking about meeting the needs of students with all stakeholders, especially that of students.  I know that as principal, I am only a part of the learning process, and I work hard to give everyone the opportunities to become leaders in our school community.