SH High Principal Gets Attention Featured in Clinton Video

Published 9 years ago9y ago • Bookmarks: 107

May 7, 2015

| by Katy Kachnowski |

It did not surprise many Americans when Hillary Clinton announced her run for the presidency on Sunday, April 12. However, there was one surprise in the video announcement: Sleepy Hollow High School’s very own Principal Carol Conklin-Spillane.

Conklin was approached at the beginning of April. “I got a call from a friend who asked if it was okay for her to give my number to somebody who was affiliated with the producers working on a digital media project for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. They were looking for a professional person in Westchester who was middle-aged,” Conklin said of the experience.

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“I got a call from the producer who spent a good deal of time with me on the phone, vetting me and asking me questions and I said sure, I would continue. They asked me if they could meet me at my house and I agreed,” she said.

The crew consisted of only a cameraman and a producer. “They were there for about an hour and they asked me a bunch of questions about Mrs. Clinton and why I supported her. They filmed me in different parts of my house, in my living room reading a book, and out in front of my house on the walkway,” Conklin explained.

The video is a prime example of the magic of editing. Conklin said that she did not intend to state she knew her retirement date, only that she knew retirement was in her future. “The statement wasn’t out of context,” said Conklin. “It just wasn’t really the theme of what we were talking about.”

“It’s really interesting to see the power of editing,” Conklin continued. “They asked questions about me. I said that I’d been an educator all my life, and I really love what I do for a living and they said, well, you’re passionate about a lot of things: what comes next? My answer was, ‘ My daughter’s getting married this summer, so someday I’ll get be a grandmother, and I’ll be thinking about retirement.’ That was the piece. And then they asked more questions about retirement and what I thought about that phase of my life. Does it frighten you or are you excited about it? I said, ‘Actually, it’s kind of exciting because it gives you the chance to reinvent yourself. I guess that’s what they needed for the story that they were telling.’”

Since the feature in the video, Conklin has appeared on the cover of the New York Times in a series of stills, as well as USA Today. A portion of the video appeared on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. Conklin has also been interviewed by People Magazine and News 12.

When asked about what she wants to see in the next president, Conklin hopes that he or she will try to move beyond testing and focus on meeting the needs of each individual student.

“At Sleepy Hollow, we know how to do that stuff, and that’s what being a breakthrough school is all about. That’s what my getting a chance to talk to policy makers in DC is all about,” she said. “So I’d really like to see the next president bring in to her administration that emphasis. I think we have a lot to brag about at Sleepy Hollow High School, and Mrs. Clinton’s team, as they put together her administration, could learn a lot from how we function in our little school. I hope someday to share that with her.”

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