SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, (WINK) —A principal conquered his fear of heights by jumping out of a plane after his students helped push their school toward an A rating.
Alex Dworzanski, principal of Harns Marsh Middle School, skydived from about 10,000 feet in the air. Two assistant principals, a teacher and the director of academic and student services joined him.
“It feels so good to be on the ground after jumping out of a plane,” Dworzanski said.
The jump was part of a dare from students who promised to work hard to help the school achieve an A rating. Dworzanski admitted the challenge was no small feat for him.
“I’m extremely afraid of heights, and I don’t even like flying,” he said. “It’s one of those one-and-done types of things that I did for my students.”
The school has shown steady improvement over the past three years. Three years ago, Harns Marsh Middle School was a C-rated school, then improved to a B last year.
“This year we’re hoping we got that A,” Dworzanski said.
Students said they gave it their all this year to make the dare a reality.
“I try our best, definitely,” student Edgar Rodriguez said. “I was definitely like trying really, really hard. I studied for the first time, you know. We wanted to make it happen.”
Their hard work appears to have paid off. Preliminary data shows the school has reached A status, though it still needs to be ratified by the state.
“Our students have scored the highest in school history, and I am sure that we’re going to get that A,” Dworzanski said.
For Dworzanski, the achievement represents more than just a letter grade.
“This signifies our students being ready for high school and beyond,” he said.
Students said they appreciated their principal’s commitment to motivating them.
“We really appreciate how our principal does entertaining and fun things to make us try our best, and you know, encourage us to push forward,” student Ariadna Rodriguez said.
The school district expects to know whether Harns Marsh Middle School is officially an A-rated school by this summer.