Between updating safety plans, crafting daily emails for students, and empathy training alongside district leaders, South Burlington High School principal Patrick Burke is busy these days.

As the country continues to struggle with a new, deadly pandemic, as a two-time cancer survivor, Burke is no stranger to health struggles. His battles with cancer have left him immunocompromised, and his health would be at high risk if he were to work inside the school building, he said.

This doesn’t stop him from having a presence on the South Burlington High School campus.

“He was actually pretty heartbroken this year that he wasn’t going to be able to be really spending any time in the school,” said Phil Surks, a South Burlington educator of eight years.

To overcome this and continue to work at least near the school, Burke worked with the district operations manager to convert a shipping container into a fully functional office on campus, said Surks.

Principal Pat Burke stands outside a shipping container he uses as his office. Burke, who is immunocompromised after two bouts with cancer, had school operations staff make this temporary workspace so that he can work near the school. Courtesy photo.

Burke said he had some logistical concerns about students returning to school. However, those worries disappeared upon seeing how cooperative the students have been and how successful the reopening process was. “The students have been beyond amazing. They really get it,” Burke said of students returning to school and following safety measures.

“Once we opened, it was much more excitement than I really anticipated,” Burke said.

As the students of South Burlington High School filed in for their first day back, Burke recalled the excitement and appreciation they expressed and how meaningful it was to him. “Every kid coming in was like ‘I am so excited to be here,’” Burke said. “I got a little emotional.”

Burke has worked alongside other administrators to establish health and safety measures that continue to be updated to ensure student wellbeing. Saturday Oct. 10 the South Burlington High School district was informed that a student tested positive for COVID-19. Since learning that information, the district has done contact tracing and determined that South Burlington is safe to remain open.

“I'm going to make decisions that are going to be putting the students’ physical health and wellbeing first,” Burke said.

Most recently, Burke said that South Burlington has adopted a new safety measure in which students receive a QR code that helps remind them to go through a personal health check.

While this school year poses challenges to South Burlington’s sense of community, Burke is prioritizing connecting with students more than ever.

“I really felt like I wanted to be able to keep the community alive,” Burke said of his strategy for tackling the disjointedness that accompanies remote learning.

Burke sends out daily emails to students. The messages, Burke said, use humor and school spirit to inform and connect with the student audience.

“They want the information,” Burke said about why he sends these messages directly to students rather than just parents.

Burke is also active on Twitter, tweeting out reminders for students and promoting school engagement. Burke’s Twitter feed is filled with cafeteria lunch specials, encouragement for school athletics, and uplifting messages directed towards students.

Out front @SBHSVT this morning

Me to studnets: I'm glad you're here.

Students to me: Yeah, me too.

100% of the time, that's the response.

Feels really good.#vted
— Patrick Burke (@pburkevt) September 11, 2020

Aside from his constant communication, Burke and other administrators do empathy training.

As part of the training, Burke said if an administrator is having trouble empathizing with an individual or situation, another administrator will defend and advocate for the individual or situation. This, Burke said, helps to illustrate that they have the capacity to empathize even when it is challenging.

This empathetic initiative coincides with one of Burke’s tenets of leadership: counsel.

“You have to be someone who can provide counsel at times. You need to be a good listener,” Burke said of what makes a good leader.

Burke said that students have a lot of anxiety about the pandemic. He said he always acknowledges these feelings, and reassures students that these circumstances are not permanent.

“The pandemic is not forever, this is not going to be the rest of your life,” Burke reassures anxious or nervous students.

“Without a doubt, the students come first. I hope that the kids know that -- that he thinks of them and their needs and hopes before anything else,” said Joyce Sheehey, a South Burlington educator of 19 years, in an email.

For Burke, prioritizing students means paying attention to even the little things.

“He knows what might seem like insignificant details about a lot of his students--from their favorite sports team, to which musical instrument they play, to their favorite food in the cafeteria. He knows more than their names,” Sheehey said in her email.

In 2005, Burke was honored as Vermont’s Principal of the Year and in 2006 named a National Distinguished Principal.

Even after 22 years at South Burlington, 17 of them as principal, Burke is reminded “I am still learning,” by a Michelangelo quote hung up in his office.