Aimee Malcolm hears you

BY JACKSON SPENNER Editor-in-Chief

It’s been years since new assistant principal Aimee Malcolm graduated from high school, but she still remembers the day in vivid detail: donning her cap and gown, walking across the makeshift stage, earning her diploma — it could very well have been yesterday.

“I can visualize being there and seeing it… the happiness, the celebratory vibe,” Malcolm said, when I spoke to her after school on a Monday afternoon.

But if graduation day was the happiest moment of Malcolm’s teenage years, deciding what to do afterward was the hardest.

Unlike many of Malcolm’s peers, her parents didn’t attend college, so she had little insight into the application process. Plus, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do; she loved photography and art, but she also loved reading and writing. Fortunately, Malcolm found role models and mentors in the teachers and staff at her school.

“[I think] having that teacher to connect with — an adult on campus – is so important,” Malcolm said. “I think back to the experiences where I was able to build relationships with teachers who were able to help guide me and think about what path I would take in the future.”

After graduating from California Baptist University with a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature, Malcolm taught Advanced Placement English Language and Composition at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. In 2015, she received her master’s degree in educational leadership and administration, prompting her to pursue an administrative position at Tennyson High School in Hayward.

Six years later, Malcolm took on a district-wide role in Hayward, creating a new literacy plan and English Language Arts curriculum — both of which were adopted within a year. But she quickly realized she didn’t want to spend her career behind a desk.

“While that assignment was really fulfilling in many ways, I preferred my experience of working with students,” Malcolm said. “[I had] interned in San Mateo Union High School District while I was getting my master’s and admin credential at Cappuccino. I really enjoyed the experience, and I felt the district was very responsive to student, staff and family needs.”

Luckily, a position was open in the district: Burlingame’s assistant principal. Now, as she sets foot on a brand new campus in a brand new city, Malcolm tries to recreate the same level of guidance and attention she received in high school. When I asked her how she wanted students to feel, she emphasized three key words: seen, heard and valued.

“I think that we as human beings do our best when we feel seen, heard and valued,” Malcolm said. “We can thrive, and we can set goals, and we can meet those goals if we feel like we’re part of the community that values who we are.”

Malcolm probably won’t walk across another graduation stage in her lifetime. But rest assured that she wouldn’t miss a student’s graduation for the world. She’ll be there, cheering for each and every Panther as they receive their diploma. And, she hopes, after four years at 1 Mangini Way, they will feel seen, heard and valued.