New Highland High/Middle School Principal Named

Highland High School and Middle School students will be greeted by a new face as they return to classes on August 17th. Tim Good was named to the position of principal just over a week ago. He talked about his experience, and what brought him to Highland.

“I’m originally from just outside of Lancaster, PA, where I grew up. I went to Eastern Mennonite University, for my undergraduate degree. Started my teaching career at Spotswood High School, and was an assistant principal at Broadway High School. I was an assistant principal for nine years, and then came back to Highland here just recently. My wife and I moved to McDowell – my wife, her maiden name was Neil, she grew up in the Highland County area, so she’s a graduate from here, and glad to come back home to be with family, and be a part of this community.”

Mr. Good considers the uniqueness of the school system a positive, and isn’t concerned with the challenges presented by remoteness or size.

“What I’m excited about is just being able to make an impact on our student population. With our great numbers, and I think, the ability to really get to know your kids, and that they’re not just a number – they’re a name and a face, and also a neighbor – that’s an exciting opportunity for me, to really connect with the students, not just in school, but in the community.

“I see our role in the high school, middle to high school, as finding those exciting activities, finding those things that are going to transition them to their adult life, whether that be work, whether that be the military, whether that be going on post-secondary education.

“Every school division, you’re going to have a challenge, whether it’s size or remoteness. I think, then the flip side is, you’re too connected, and kids have too much going on in some of the other areas. I feel confident in my abilities, and our staff, we have a lot of teachers that have been in the division for a while, and are very familiar with the community and the school, and so I’m excited about partnering with them and our community, and working with that.

“ Our goal is to put the best foot forward, and do everything we can to help kids. We’ll form those relationships, and help them, hopefully, to make better choices in the future. If they decide to take a few mis-steps along the way, we were all teenagers once, we know how it is to live and learn, and that’s kind of our goal as educators, is to try and help them make those decisions, and if they make a mistake, try to re-look at them, and hopefully not make the same mistake twice.”

He urged parent and community involvement to make the school system successful.

“My goal in education is to keep everybody informed – I think that’s one of the most important things. And a school of this size, we need everybody to be a part of it. One of my main goals moving forward, is to communicate with parents and the community, to let them be involved in our activities. One of my main goals this first semester is to meet with all of our junior and senior students, and their parents, just to make sure that we’re all on the same page, moving forward for graduation, and getting them going in the right direction.

“It’s an important part of education, when sometimes we see the student and the teachers, and we forget about the parent and the community. It’s a three prong process, and we all have to work together, because we all know, it takes all of us to raise our teenagers. And if we can all kind of be on the same page, the students knows, hey, I’m hearing the same thing from everybody’ they see this in my best interest, so I need to start moving in that direction.

“I’m  just blessed to have this opportunity, I’m excited to be here. And I hope that people that hear this – I need support from everyone, whether it’s former educators, community members, whether it’s projects we’re going to try to do at school, business partners, that’s what we need, we need everybody to be plugged in.

“I want our school to be the center of the county, and the center of town, make that a happening place to be, that kids want to be at, and the community wants to be a part of.”

Story By

Scott Smith

Scott Smith is the General Manager for Allegheny Mountain Radio and Station Coordinator and News Reporter for WVLS. Scott’s family has deep roots in Highland County. While he did not grow up here, he spent as much time as possible on the family farm, and eventually moved to Highland to continue the tradition, which he still pursues with his cousin. Unfortunately, farming doesn’t pay all the bills, so he has previously taken other jobs to support his farming hobby, including pressman/writer for The Recorder, and Ag Projects Coordinator for The Highland Center. He lives in Hightown with wife Michelle and son Ethan. In his spare time, he wishes he had more spare time, especially to ride his prized Harley-Davidson motorcycle. scott@amrmail.org

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