Incoming Mankato East principal returning home

May 24—In a busy Dakota Meadows Middle School lunchroom, a student sitting by the window looks across the room and spots Principal Akram Osman, calling him over wanting to take a picture.

The incoming Mankato East High School principal, Osman makes it a point to connect with students every day.

In his current role, he's often seen walking the halls of Dakota Meadows, stopping to chat with students in the library or the cafeteria along the way.

As he makes some of his final laps around the middle school in North Mankato before starting his new job at East on July 1, he knows taking on the role as principal at the high school he graduated from will be a full-circle moment.

"I'm feeling very, very excited about this opportunity," he said. "It's an honor. It's something that I'm just super grateful for."

But it's not just taking on the role at his alma mater, where he graduated from in 2009, that has him feeling nostalgic.

Osman recalled the exact moment when the idea to work in education was planted in his mind and who the idea came from.

That was his own former principal at East, Shane Baier.

"Shane, I remember where we were. It was right outside the main doors of East High School where he said, 'Akram, I really think you should check out education. I see you have qualities and you can really contribute to this field,'" he said.

Osman said he and Baier first connected through his role as class president at the time, adding that Baier made an effort to spend time with student groups and elevate voices, a trait he hopes to replicate.

"We ended up having lunch with him at the mall one day to talk about our student experiences, and then he asked some great questions to help us kind of engage in that process of schools really serving the students and hearing their voices," Osman said.

"That's something I really have seen modeled for me, and my goal is to bring that type of energy and passion and student connection, staff connection and community focus."

But Osman said he didn't enter college with the mindset of wanting to work in education just yet as he originally considered careers as a dentist or physical therapist.

However, during his second year, he became an assistant girls soccer coach at East.

"Coaching girls at East High School really opened up my eyes to just kind of committing to becoming a teacher," Osman said.

His career in education began from there.

He has a master's in special education and an educational specialist degree from Minnesota State University.

Prior to his administrative roles, he was a special education teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary.

Osman eventually served as the principal at Bloomington Kennedy High School, as the associate principal at Eden Prairie High School and as the associate principal and dean of students at Burnsville High School.

But while he worked away from home, he never moved away; he commuted to and from Mankato every day.

"The last 2 1/2 years, my life changed because I became a husband and a father of a 21-month-old baby boy right now, and that's what brought me really, like OK, I need to work in the community where I live."

Osman is also known for serving as the Mankato district's first Somali principal as well as one of the first in the state, which he described as an honor.

"I think having my background of somebody who's multilingual," he said, "and understanding multiple cultures, that will help me just really be able to serve the racially diverse community that exists within our school districts, specifically East High School, and being able to relate, understand, connect, elevate, support as much as possible."

Osman said he stays connected with Baier, who has also served as his mentor.

Baier said it's been fun to be a part of Osman's journey, adding that you never know the difference one interaction with a student can make.

He said Osman's leadership potential showed him he was right for education.

"He really did represent what it meant to be active, involved and a leader. Those are usually good qualities that are cross-over skills with many fields — education being one of them," he said.

He added there aren't enough words to describe what it means to see Osman fill his former role.

"It's fitting. It's exactly what I think Mankato East needs, someone who is fully invested, student-centered and knows the community, recognizes what's needed and will be there, will be present," he said. "Kids will know his name, and he'll know theirs."

His current staff, including the Dakota Meadows dean of students, Jessi Buttell, also think highly of him.

Buttell, who has worked with Osman for a year, said she's already learned a lot from him.

"I think for me it really is how to have conversations and sometimes some tough conversations with individuals and really how to foster that in a way that is going to be beneficial for all parties," she said.

"Really feeling as though everyone has input and feeling that when you walk away from having a meeting with him or having a conversation with him, feeling as though, there's a positive outlook for that piece of it."

She also added that Osman has the skill of being present in the moment. "Understanding what's going on, having a pulse within the building and really just staying connected to the students, the families, the staff," she said.

Osman said he's ready to start his new role this summer and is looking forward to making connections with students, teachers and the community right away.

"All of those experiences have helped me get to the spot I'm at right now. It really makes me well prepared to serve as the next principal," he said.