Assistant Principle accepts leadership role at Sheridan Technical College

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OFFICE HOURS: (From left to right) Front office secretary Ann Wingett and Assistant Principal Wendy Sanchez working collaboratively whilst having a friendly work conversation. During her time here at West Broward, San- chez brightened the administrative office with her lively presence and attentiveness to staff needs. Photo by Mariana De Jesus

By: Mariana De Jesus

Assistant Principal Wendy Sanchez has been an administrator at West Broward for the past 15 years. During that time, Sanchez has influenced a multitude of people, programs and initiated pursuits on campus. But this year, Sanchez has decided to embark on a new opportunity where she will be overseeing the Career and Technical programs (CTE) at Sheri- dan Technical College.

The 2022–2023 school year would have been Sanchez’s 15th year working at West Broward. Sanchez transferred from Fort Lauderdale High School to West Broward in 2008, transitioning from being a literacy coach to the new job of assistant principal. Her responsibilities kept growing as the years progressed and as she gained more insight and knowledge into how to manage an efficient school. As of the beginning of the present school year, Sanchez has supervised the CTE program, the foreign arts program and the exceptional student education (ESE)program. After having planned, organized, and produced countless implementations into these programs, Sanchez is now able to use the knowledge she has gained over the past experiences, and graduate her wisdom into a college atmosphere.

THROUGH THE YEARS: The photo collage above illustrates pictures from
memorable experiences that date from the year 2007 to the year 2021. Sanchez had been a part of the West Broward community ever since the school first opened. This has made her transition to Sheridan Technical college hard for her coworkers and friends to accept. Evidently, her presence will clearly be missed but the smiles and memories presented above will last forever. Photos courtesy of Wendy Sanchez

“My goal is to be who I am because who I am got me through being at West Browand and got me into the position at the college,” Sanchez said I hope to continue to serve the students and the staff of the school I’m assigned to, to the best of my ability and hear them and listen to what they need and with my experience as a servant leader, I can do what is needed for the school to be successful for anything I am assigned to.”

Despite the urgency of her presence at Sheridan Technical College, Sanchez ensured that before leaving, she had done everything in her power to maximize the students’ experiences in the programs she oversees. With her experience overseeing the CTE programs on campus, Sanchez is well equipped to effectively manage the challenges that might present themselves at the college as she conducts the CTE programs there As she developed and influenced the programs on campus, Sanchez can transfer her knowledge to a new college setting.

“The real gift of my new position is that I am doing what I’ve done here for my high school students at their next step at the technical college level,” Sanchez said. “It is like I’m graduating from this level to the next level. And it is exactly the path I want my high school students to take and hopefully I can facilitate that at the Tech College since the Tech College has several of the programs that we have here, but at that next level.”

Sanchez has touched the lives of many during her time in West Broward including both students and teachers. Although the class of 2023 will be the first senior class to physically miss Sanchez’s presence at graduation, a big part of the students’ progress has been the accumulation of many actions taken by Sanchez that got them to that point of graduation. During her time at West Broward, Sanchez demonstrated qualities that can be appreciated by all who embrace them Having a passion to grow the education community in an impactful way. Sanchez goes into each pursuit with a positive mindset and the willingness to make a positive change. Her pressing impact on the education community will continue to prevail regardless of the technicality of the location of her workplace.

“If I were to describe Mrs. Sanchez as one word, I would say approachable. I always felt comfortable coming to her for anything and getting her input, because I was certain that whatever I was confront- ed with is something that she’s already gone through.” said assistant principal Diana Hurado. “Wherever she goes she should continue being herself because she was appreciated here and we learned a lot from her. I wish her the best and if she ever changes her mind, she’s welcome back.”