Many students and staff know Mrs.Clor as our school principal, however, she didn’t start her career intending to be one. Within her first couple of years at Fitzgerald High School, she was actually a teacher. During this experience, she had a change of heart and wanted to be more involved with the actions and livelihoods of the students, leading to her career as a principal.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” Principal Amanda Clor said. “When I was five, I was like, let’s play school. I’ll be the teacher. Everyone else had to be the students.” 

Even at a very young age, Clor knew she wanted to do something that involved leadership. As she went through high school and off to college, Clor had a change of interest, and she wanted to be a school counselor instead.

“We all have problems, but we don’t talk about them,” Clor said.  “We don’t tell people what we’re scared of, we keep it in, because we think what if nobody else feels this way?”

Clor believes that sharing our feelings with each other helps us realize an important truth: we are all struggling with the same issues that could be solved with a supportive conversation. She began to think that counseling was the right way to go, but little did she know her path would change again. While taking classes at Eastern Michigan, she eventually realized that being a counselor would take a lot more time than she was anticipating. Clor decided to go back to her original plan: becoming a teacher.

“When I was a teacher, I’d literally stand in the hall and every time administrators would walk by, I’d be like, ‘What’s going on?’” Clor said. “Why did [that student] get in trouble? Did they just get a tardy?” 

Although Clor loved being a teacher, she really wanted to be more involved with the behind-the-scenes action. She finally decided that taking on the role of principal might be the perfect opportunity for Clor to take in her leadership goals and to be able to make an impact on students in a positive way.

“Principals should interact with kids,” Clor said. “More students should know who they are. They should know the students. So I was like, I can do that.”

Finally becoming a principal, Clor knew this is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. While she was sad to say goodbye to Fitzgerald High School, that she had been a part of for 13 years, She was so excited to become a part of CHS.

“I was at my other building for 13 years, and I love my staff and my students,” Clor said. “They kept asking me if I was going to quit because I drove 45 minutes every single day to an hour and a half. And I said, I love this place. I’m not going to leave unless it’s for something special. And I think Chelsea’s a really special place.”