Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr donned a black apron and snapped on rubber gloves, a hot-pink basket of goat parts including a glassy brown eyeball staring him in the face.

It was 10:20 a.m. on a recent Monday, and instead of working on schools policy or administrative tasks, Starr was standing in a Gaithersburg High School anatomy and physiology lab next to senior David Hayes. The two began identifying goat tongue and pieces of brain and other organs.

Im going to become a vegetarian, Starr quipped as Hayes began picking up the pink goat pieces.

Starrs foray into the lab was part of a full day that Starr spent with Hayes on Oct. 22. The top administrator for Montgomery County schools and 19 other top system officials followed high school students during that week, an idea that Starr developed over the summer to engage administrators in on-the-ground situations in the schools.

Its just so that we can remember who were serving and why were doing what were doing, said Starr, who graduated from high school in 1987.

While the idea was to get a taste of a high school students typical day, Hayes said it wasnt exactly a normal day, what with the superintendent in tow.

Cameras followed Hayes and Starr everywhere they went. Starr toted his iPad, taking pictures and posting tweets. And teachers made sure to dress their best, knowing the superintendent would be on campus.

My teachers planned better lectures than what they usually planned, said Hayes, 18. There was more interaction than usual.

But for Starr, it was still a good glimpse into the life of a high school student and a reminder of how fast-paced a teenagers life can be, bouncing from one class to another every 45 minutes.

It just moves so quick, Starr said. When do you get time to let it sink in and reflect?

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Montgomery County’s top educator shadows Gaithersburg High School student