The beginning of the school year at a new high school can be stressful and exhausting, not only for the students but also for the principal and the staff of the school.
Even though they have to deal with a lot of problems, they are always ready to help students and make things go smoothly. The Memorial Messenger talked with principal Laurie Kinne about what her job has been like and what she’s most looking forward to about the year.
Q: How would you describe in three words the first week of high school?
A: Exciting, amazing and happy. I mean it was very positive. I think it was really good.
Q: Did you face any kind of problems with staff or organization?
A: Overall, especially opening a brand new high school with a new staff and new students, I honestly don’t think it could have gone any better. We’ve had a few hiccups with a new building. We still have staff trying to get keys to the cabinets or classrooms and then we have some things we have to figure out how to work properly. We have a real state-of-the-art technology, so our admin team has done some training on our audio system, then we are getting microphones for the teachers. So we’re learning how to use all of the new equipment that the school provides for our teachers. So that’s been a little different. And then the first week we saw our lunches were really big. So we had to add tables in our cafeteria and level some classes to provide seating for all of our kids and maybe add a few more teachers to duties to supervise kids. But I think the lunches and then the drop-off in the mornings and afternoon pickup, that was a process. But I think it’s gotten a lot better. Otherwise, I think everything’s been great. It was really nice. It got better with the traffic and everything.
Q: Is this your first time working as a principal of a high school or have you done it before?
A: I’ve done it before. In Wichita Falls I was at Wichita Falls High School before I came here. Then I was a junior high principal in Buna before that and then an assistant principal at a high school in Waco for several years before that.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: The kids, the students, they are my happy place. I just love the kids, and in the mornings when I stand at the door and I get to greet the kids, when they come in and at lunch getting to know the kids. Honestly I know it sounds crazy, but when a kid gets in trouble or they send a student to me, I get excited. Not that they are in trouble, but I get to talk to a student and get to know them to help them solve an issue. I don’t want them to be in trouble so we try to find a way to fix the problem, so really the kids are my happy place. I love to go to extracurricular activities and watch them perform, care for them and just see the kids on the campus.
Q: What do you dislike the most about your job?
A: I think as a principal we deal with a lot of problems. I feel like a firefighter putting out fires every day so it’s like one issue or problem after another. That can be a lot, making a lot of decisions and just trying to be a problem solver that makes you really tired. I deal with a lot of problems, so sometimes I really have to give myself pep talks and keep a positive attitude when sometimes it’s just one problem after another. At the end of the day, it’s what I am supposed to do. Be solution-driven.
Q: How do you overcome problems?
A: Every day I am always looking and evaluating, “How can we do that better?” And I have an admin team, my assistant principals, teachers, our clerks, our counselors. It’s like everybody here is a team. When I don’t know the answer to something we talk about, we try to make everything better, like our procedures, our policies, just the way we do things. Just to improve the way we do things every day. I am always looking at how I can make things better.
Q: How has everything gone with the staff?
A: They are awesome. You know I was a little bit nervous because I am working with new teachers and new staff members. We haven’t worked together before, you don’t know each other, but I think I have an amazing staff. They all have been really positive and they’ve been working really hard. I think our kids are enjoying school and I think I have the best staff. It’s been really great.
Q: Could you tell us about future high school projects? Things you are looking forward to?
A: One thing that has been different in opening a new high school is traditions for the new high school, our orientations – Bull School – so you normally just have that for freshmen, but we had all four classes, so that was interesting to put on and do. And then we had our ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house and Meet the Mavericks. Honestly you know a lot of planning goes into those things, and I don’t think they could’ve been any better. I see the spirit and excitement of our students on our campus, and that was great. Now we are planning for homecoming. We are going to have a traditional homecoming with mums and we will crown a king and queen at the homecoming game. We will have a homecoming court and a homecoming dance and a parade. So there’s been a lot of planning to go into that tradition, and after that we will move on to our rivalry week. We will play our cross-city rival Legacy High School and we will have some events that go with that. We will have prom next semester and pep rallies and just lots of events that we are planning for the students to really bring more school spirit that we are excited about.
