I rushed out of the house and arrived at Mt. Hebron Middle School at 7:20 in the morning on Wednesday. Five minutes late for school – some things never change!
Guy Whitlock, the school’s new principal, was already embroiled in a crossfire of trouble-shooting when I caught up with him in the main office. At well over six-feet he was crisp and cool with an animated face that was focused, sharp, thoughtful and — when he broke into smile — sunny as hell. It was picture day, the office was filled with boxes and books, students and teachers, ringing phones and pressing schedules. Shall I come back for our walk another day, I asked.
“Every day can be like this,” Whitlock said with a broad smile and easy shrug as we set off for his morning stroll around the school. “It’s a big learning curve.”
Every so often you come across someone whose light and energy is unmistakable. Guy Whitlock is that kind of man. As we headed down the long, clean hallway he called out greetings and traded friendly barbs with colleagues without breaking his train of thought. This former English teacher has a clear goal for Mt. Hebron, the science and technology magnet.
“I want us to magnetize the science and technology focus of the school,” he says. “We’re talking about infusing content into technology and science, and infusing technology and science into the arts and English classes,” he said
Since I first met Whitlock more than seven years ago (he was my daughter’s middle school English teacher) I’ve followed his career with great interest: a law school graduate who’s been with the district since 1994 — excluding a brief acting stint — he went to the central office as Teacher on Special Assigning to the Department of Instruction in 2008, was assistant to the superintendent in 2009, and went to the head of the class in May last year, when his new post as Mt. Hebron Middle School principal was announced.
Does he miss teaching?
“As principal I get to go into the classroom and work with novice teachers,” he said. “Working with teachers I get the same satisfaction as I do working with students. That’s the truth.”
Once we’d waded our way through the sea of students waiting for the bell to ring and the doors to open, Whitlock and I reached the front of the school. There should have been a crossing guard on duty, but there wasn’t. I didn’t notice, but Whitlock did. One minute he was answering a question, the next minute he was in the street stopping traffic and waving students safely across the road.
I have no doubt Whitlock will fulfill his new duties at Mt. Hebron with rigor, wit, and enthusiasm. From everything I saw this morning, he’s already doing just that.
Lord….
Is it SO difficult to adjust a photo before posting?
It is unacceptable to see this dark-skinned Black man in such an underexposed shot.
Didn’t you notice that you couldn’t even see the guy?
(Really, a dark skinned Black guy in a white shirt with black pants requires special attention, much like a fair skinned White guy in a dark shirt and light pants would.)
Most computers (and phones) come with FREE programs to fix photos- this is lazy.
C’mon….
My daughter was lucky to have Guy Whitlock as a teacher. He’s a great man.
ProfWilliams – try reading the article. The last thing the world needs is more photo doctoring.
Prof, there’s a “lighten up” joke in there somewhere…
I agree it’s not the best composition, but I think you expect too much. I’m just happy that the thumbnail actually links to a larger version of the photo (which is a little clearer), unlike most on this site that just give you the thumbnail again.
Personally I’m more disturbed by the angle at which it was taken. The tilt is making me queasy…
The composition of the photo is great. I like his pose, the school behind him, his casualness, etc. The expressive nature of the photo is very good.
The brightness/exposure IS THE ISSUE. On a website it is far too easy to upload a bad picture- someone has to have an aesthetic to prevent this kind of bad picture.
I’m not commenting on the story, because I have yet to get past the bad picture that confronted me first…
Ummm ..
What exactly does this mean?
“I want us to magnetize the science and technology focus of the school,” he says. “We’re talking about infusing content into technology and science, and infusing technology and science into the arts and English classes,” he said
Maybe the better word choice is integrate–integrate tech and science into the arts and vice versa–but in any case, magnetize gives you the connotation of pulling things together. So it works as a figure of speech!
Mr. Whitlock was my daughter’s language arts teacher too–and he was great: as a teacher, as a role model, as someone committed to education and his students. In this new position he’ll be able to affect hundreds of kids, not just the ones who were lucky enough to have him in class. The school sorely needed new leadership and a shot of positive energy–and now that’s what it has.
As far as I can make out, he wants to wrap a wire around the science and technology programs, connect the ends to a battery, and presto! make iron filings move.
Then he wants to get a very large beaker full of technology and science, and gradually pour content into it.
Then he’ll take this gigantic beaker into an English class, get naked and swim around in it, perhaps in hope that the English teacher will join him?
I don’t know. That’s the best I can do.
what he means is keep paying those damn taxes cuz i need this job. come on, a science and technology elementary school? yeah right