Myles Callis is the Behavioral Support Coordinator at Woodland School after previously serving as a behavior manager for seven years. With his experience and knowledge of the job, he creates relationships built on mutual respect with both his team members and with students.
In his role, he supervises all 40 behavior managers at Woodland and oversees their day-to-day work. He ensures all classrooms are appropriately staffed and that behavior managers have what they need to do their jobs.
“I think he has a great gauge on the temperature of the building and the needs of the staff in the building,” said Woodland Principal Aaron Pulley. “He’s great at his job because he has been a behavior manager before, so he knows the role from both as a supervisor and a behavior manager. He understands all aspects of the job and I think that allows him to speak appropriately to others about the job, telling them what they need to do and what actually works with our students and for our students.”
This relatability allows him to build connections with his team, as well as the students they serve. Though he no longer works as closely with students as he did in his former role, he continues to get to know the students at Woodland and is always ready to step in if he’s needed.
“He has a great, great ability to build relationships with not only the students, but staff,” said Pulley. “He’s just a great guy, a great team player. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
Learn more about Myles Callis in the Q&A below.
How long have you been a part of the Woodland community?
Callis: I've been at Woodland now, this is, I believe, my eighth year. I started here as a substitute behavior manager. Since then, I've been a behavior manager. I had the opportunity this summer to apply for the support coordinator position, and luckily, I was able to secure that position.
What drew you to this kind of work initially?
Callis: I've actually been in this field for approximately 29 years. I've been working with children either in group homes or schools since I was about 14 years old. So I've just been in the field. I love working with children. It's my calling, I believe. My father was actually a principal of a school in Hartford, so I guess you could say it’s in my DNA to work with kids.
What does your role as Behavioral Support Coordinator entail?
Callis: It depends on the day. My role can be various different types of things. I'm working with the students, helping to support them for any crisis, any issues they have.
Sometimes my staff can need support in dealing with a student. Luckily, I have the pleasure of having a great rapport with many of our students here in the school. I pride myself on the relationships I build with those students, so I’m able, in a lot of those situations, to support the students, as well as the staff, and kind of help the situation out.
How important is it to get to know the students in your school community?
Callis: I would say it's probably the most valuable part of the position. The relationships that I've built with students over the years, as well as some of our older students at our high school coming in, it’s 100% why I'm able to do what I do. I pride myself on being very genuine with students. Anybody will tell you, I'm not fake. I will tell a student directly how their behavior is. I'm very upfront with them, and I've come to learn that students tend to respect that a lot more versus kind of tiptoeing around the issues. It allows me to have discussions with kids that maybe other people aren't capable to have just because they feel the sincerity, and they're just able to be honest with me.
What are your goals when you come to work each day?
Callis: I wouldn’t say this is a goal, but being in this role and being in this field a long time, it's for every kid to be influenced. I come in the building every day just knowing that my presence, number one, is going to have impact on the students. It’s important to be here for them. But I definitely just know that I've made an impact on a lot of these kids’ lives. I've had the opportunity to see some of these students grow up, see them be a part of the community with their families, and see that they've become young men and women that are just very stand up people, so I love that.
What do you love most about your job?
Callis: I love a million things about my job. For me, again, it would be go back to the impact that I have on the students. I do take pride in what I do. I take pride in being able to help students that are having a rough time, being able to transition to calming down, figuring out what the problem is. I would probably say that's my number one thing. I look forward to just being able to know that I'm going to come in today and be able to help a student or several students or staff in some cases that are just having maybe not the best day, and I can do something to help turn that day around.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.