Using skills he gathered at the middle school, 9th-grade assistant principal Jeremy Miller adjusts to the new high school and the challenges that come with his new position.
According to Miller, a big issue is a need for more experience and familiarity with the high school and its many facets.
“My greatest challenge is not knowing everything. It’s hard for me because back in my old school, I could answer any question about anything,” Miller said. “It’s hard not to know everything and that’s something I have to learn to deal with. It’s going to take some time to figure out as much as I can.”
According to Principal Sam Varano, a critical skill for an assistant principal is the ability to see the “grey amongst the black and white” and have clarity in situations.
Assistant principals have lots of work they need to handle throughout the day, Miller has the additional responsibility of working things out with Block 2.5 adding more onto his plate.
“Assistant principals all have different responsibilities in the building. I do things with Block 2. 5,” Miller said. “It’s hard to say what exactly you do because every day is different, you might have a plan for what you plan to do during the day, but then it gets blurred as the day goes on with more and more work.”
According to 10th-grade assistant principal Michelle Noga, one skill that helps with being an assistant principal is compassion, and she feels that it is obvious in Miller.
“Miller is very compassionate which I think is one of his greatest strengths especially when dealing with the role of an assistant principal.”
Kindness is a very important thing that Miller believes is important and should be implemented and experienced more within the school.
“There’s not much I would change with the way things are run and the way people operate around here,” Miller said. “I think it’d be nice to help people understand the positive impact of kindness.”
According to Noga, the best thing for Miller is to stay to himself and use the skills he has already learned since his current job and previous experiences are very similar.
“A word of advice for him is staying true to himself, and keeping with the skills he gained from being an assistant principal for so long,” Noga said. “Since for him, it’s a similar job just a new location.”
According to Miller one of his greatest strengths is patience which he used mostly in middle school and carries on throughout the school.
“I’d consider myself to be patient. You have to be very patient to work in middle school, and I think that helps across all grade levels,” Miller said.
The job of the 9th-grade assistant principal is to be a model that the 9th graders can follow and a person they can learn from.
“The goal of an assistant principal is to be a role model for the students and to teach the ninth graders how to enjoy their independence with responsibility,” Varano said.
According to Miller, allowing students to voice their opinions is a key take away that he got from the middle school and hopes to bring to the high school.
“I think that’s important here at high school to give people their voice and let them advocate for themselves and speak about their own perspectives,” Miller said. “That’s something I definitely took from the middle of school.“
Many middle school students experience a shock when they reach the highschool, so having a 9th grade assistant that once worked at the middle school is a tool for Miller to use when it comes to his new job, tying into his status as a role model.
“When they have more independence and with that independence comes more responsibility, they grow into it. Being a former vice principle is a big positive for Mr. Miller.” Varano said.
