“Looking different doesn’t mean we’ll be less effective.”

That’s Michael McKinney’s way of looking at the difficult task ahead at Welches
Schools.

McKinney, 48, was tapped by the Oregon Trail School District as the new
principal at Welches, a job he will take over in the upcoming school year. The
position opened up following the incentive-retirement of Mike Sutton, an event
spurred by the massive education cuts that have hit Oregon schools.

The new principal has his own approach to the daunting task that awaits.
“I believe in the asset model,” McKinney said. “I look at what the school has,
not what’s missing. It’s all about attitude and approach – how we can build.

Staff brings something. Parents provide input. The community pitches in. Our
mission hasn’t changed – quality education for the children.”

McKinney is a devotee of the analogy, and he sees the challenge ahead for
schools in that light. He does not believe quality is necessarily lost because of
change.

“I was a potter for many years and I learned that creativity is always the key.
You can use lots of ingredients when you’re cooking, for example. But you can
change

those ingredients, use a few less perhaps, or different ones, and still have a
great product.”

McKinney plans on making good use of the teaching staff – the ones who do
the heavy lifting – and tackles another analogy to make his point, citing again
the asset model.

“They will have specific skills and we must take advantage of them,” he said.
“For example, no matter how hard I trained, or for how long, I’d never by an
Olympic high jumper. We have to concentrate on a positive approach, using
our resources. The negative stuff has to go away.”

McKinney comes from Firwood Elementary where he has been principal for
two years. He has lived in Brightwood during that time and told a WPTCO
gathering that his commute has certainly improved.

“I’m already searching out a bike route to work that avoids Highway 26,” he
told the group.

He grew up in Lake Oswego, attended Portland Community College, received
his bachelor’s degree by distance learning at Excelsior College, New York,
through Portland State University.

He finished up his schooling with a graduate degree from Concordia University
in Portland.

He began his education career at the age of 35 as an ELL facilitator at Tom
McCall Upper Elementary in Forest Grove. His ELL abilities were attained in the
Army at the Monterey Language School. He is fluent in Spanish.