This is my first attempt at blogging. This is a way for me to share information about being the principal at Shepherd High School.
It is great to be back working in my home town. I have lived in Shepherd all of my live. I literally have never lived outside the village limits. One of my claims to fame is that I lived at home until I was 27. Before you laugh, just consider how much money I was saving. I didn't really have a good reason to leave! I finally moved out when I was married. Even then, I lived in town.
I graduated from SHS in 1987, and I stayed at home while I was attending Alma College. I was able to get done in four years with a double major in history and political science and my teaching certificate. I graduated from Alma in April of 1991. That fall I was hired by Mt. Pleasant Public Schools to teach in the Isabella County Jail. I taught GED prep and some basic skills to help inmates earn a diploma. I also taught a couple of other adult education classes. I only did this for about a semester until I was offered a position as a grant administrator. This was a very big step for me because I had a chance to start doing some administrative work.
I knew that I needed to work in a regular K-12 position if I ever wanted to pursue administration in a K-12 building. After a total of four years in Mt. Pleasant, I applied for a position in Shepherd at Odyssey. I was hired and worked at Odyssey for a year (1995-1996). I then took a position in the high school. I finished my administrative master's degree in 1998 and then continued to work at SHS until July of 2002.
In July of 2002, I was hired by Farwell Area Schools as a high school assistant principal. This was a very good experience. I was glad that Farwell took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity to obtain administrative experience. After two years, I decided to try for another position. This time I applied for a position with Midland Public Schools. I was hired to begin the 2004-2005 school year. This provided me with more great experience. I was the Level I Assistant Principal at Northeast Middle School. I went from a small rural school to a large city school and from high school to middle school. I went from a school with limited resources to a school with expanded resources. I also went from a school with seven administrators to a school with many more than that. I really liked working in Midland, but I was still living in Shepherd. Midland, as nice as it was, was not "home." In 2006, I applied for the head high school principal position. My past experience really helped to make a case that I should be hired for this position. When it was all said I done, I was hired and began at SHS in December of 2006. I have been at SHS since then.
One thing that I didn't mention is that when I first moved from Mt. Pleasant to Shepherd, I met this new teacher. This new teacher and I got to know each other over the course of a few months (September to December) and by December 24th we were engaged. Kristi (Sneary) and I were married the following July - July 6th, 1996. As you can figure, we worked as colleagues until I left in 2002. When I returned in 2006, she had taken a position as the district media specialist.
We had a son, Alex, in 1998 and a daughter, Adri, in 2000. Now we all go to the same place every day. This is very cool. I am glad to be back in Shepherd where my wife works and my kids go to school.
This introduction is a little long, but it is an overview of how I came to be the principal at Shepherd High School.
3 comments:
Pretty neat story. I am newly married, living in Alma, and working in Mt. Pleasant. We will have children someday and will be looking at Shepherd schools as one of our possible school districts. It is nice to know a little about you and your dedication to the Shepherd area and schools!
I AM 60 YEARS OLD AND FOLLOW MY GRANDSON TO ALL HIS FOOTBALL GAMES.YOUR SCHOOL IS THE WORST AS FAR AS VISITOR BLEACHERS, AREA, AND DISTANCE TO THE BLEACHERS THAT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO.HAVE YOU EVER CLIMBED THOSE BLEACHERS? I FEARED FOR MY WELL BEING AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT DARED CLIMBING THEM.I NOTICED YOUR HOME BLEACHERS WERE TOPNOTCHED,WHY DO YOU TREAT THE VISITORS THAT WAY?
Our home bleachers are not top notch. They too are in very poor condition. They have had to be repaired several times. We passed a bond issue last November, and we are currently building a new football field and parking area. Bleachers are very expensive. We could not have made the changes needed without the bond issues. Thanks to the voters of the Shepherd district, we will soon have a great facility for our visitors and our home crowd. I am sorry you had so much trouble watching your grandson. We should be able to play on the new field next year.
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