GAEL UnscriptED
GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today.
From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.
GAEL UnscriptED
Do you love them enough? Building Great Schools
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What actually changes a school—policies on paper or people in the building? We sit down with Jay Floyd to map the moments that matter, from his first days as a biology teacher and coach to leading large high schools and a district. Jay is candid about the hard parts of leadership, the joy of seeing students thrive, and the simple rule that guides his decisions: love students enough to set clear standards and follow through.
We explore the high-velocity world of the assistant principal, where relationships are everything and consistency earns trust. Jay shares how the principal’s chair shifts the view: every decision, big or small, rolls uphill. He lays out a practical playbook—hire 100 percent better each cycle, treat discipline as caring structure, and build teams that outlast any one leader. His approach to instructional growth is hands-on and respectful: classroom cameras owned by teachers, district-level academic coaches with real authority, and a culture where colleagues swap videos and feedback because teaching is a craft.
When Jay returns home as superintendent, strategy becomes system. With a unified board and a clear plan, he anchors a College and Career Academy on the high school campus and ties attendance and graduation to purpose. Students plug into pathways and organizations that give them a reason to show up, from game design to industry certifications, and results follow—higher engagement, stronger scores, and a community that feels the impact. Threading through every chapter is a question printed on a t-shirt and embedded in the culture: Do you love them enough?
If you lead a classroom, a school, or a district, this conversation offers a grounded, repeatable blueprint. Subscribe, share with a colleague who’s stepping into a new role, and leave a review to help more educators find these tools and stories.
Welcome to Gale Unscripted, where leadership meets learning and real conversations drive real impact. I'm Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of Gale. Join us as we go beyond the headlines with Georgia's top education leaders. Let's elevate the conversation. Jay, thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER_02:Ben, I appreciate you having me. I'm kind of looking forward to this, actually.
SPEAKER_01:This is awesome. It is unscripted. He found out literally five minutes ago that we were going to do this episode. And so we appreciate Jay for doing that. Well, why don't you tell us? You know, a lot of people know Jay Floyd. They know some of our new members know Jay as an employee of synthetics and all the work you do with that important organization. But tell about how did you what were you teaching and how and why did you get into administration?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I actually started my career as a biology teacher, teaching senior level biology at West Rome High School in Rome, Georgia. And because East Rome and West Rome was consolidating, I was also coaching. I was coaching girls' track and I was coaching football. And because they were consolidating, then I went back to Carson Newman University and became defensive line coach there and coaching at Carson Newman. But that's actually where I started teaching senior level biology at West Rome. And then uh after Carson Newman, I um I went to Dalton High School, uh, met Bill Chapel. We did a um uh coach's clinic in Gatlinburg every year. And so a lot of the Georgia districts would come, and that's where I met Bill Chapel. And it just so happens that my wife is from Dalton. And so um Coach Chapel started talking to me, and he's like, you know, I haven't added anybody to my staff in like 29 years, and you know, are you you would you be interested in something like that? I said, Well, you know, Mandy's from Dalton, so that's probably what I what I need to do. So good move. Went to Dalton High School, really enjoyed it, uh, stayed there about eight years, and uh I was coaching, and but I also started getting into administration. Um I um moved into a role where I was uh evaluating energy as an energy management. And so I took an administrative role as an energy manager for Dalton City Schools, and and then in the meantime I I became an instructional supervisor, and so uh I kind of felt like, you know, hey, this is this would be a good role for me, you know, moving into this admin type deal. And so an assistant principal at Cartersville High School, and uh I applied for it, went and interviewed. Um and so uh Mike Brians, who was a principal at Southeast Whitfield, uh in Dalton and Wit Whitfield County, was the superintendent at Hurricane. So there's a little bit of connection there to to to Dalton. And so I went and interviewed with uh Mike Brian, and he hired me uh as assistant principal. Uh or actually the principal hired me as assistant principal. And so I went uh went to Cartersville. That's how I got into administration.
SPEAKER_01:Well, talk about that assistant principal job. You know, that is a high school assistant principal job is a tough, tough job. It's uh a lot of moving pieces. I know when I moved into that position, I was shocked at how quick quickly the day went by. But talk a little bit about some of the uh great things about being assistant principal, maybe some challenges.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it was wide open, that's for sure. Um, a lot of things you learn in college they don't teach you about and doing that administrative job. But uh I think about 90 percent of it is being able to to deal with people. And uh, you know, and I realized early on, regardless of what responsibilities that I had, that you know, I had to learn to to love the kids first of all. And if I and if I could love them and uh that I've had meaningful relationship with them, then I could have an impact. So that's kind of how it grew on me is hey, I want to I want to do more than just being a an administrator, I want to have some kind of impact. And so um that's kind of you know where it grew. I d at the time I was doing discipline, uh, but I also was in charge of the attendance office and uh several other things at the school. And I don't know, I just kind of kind of fell in love with it. And I uh I fell in love with the supervisors that we had, and I enjoyed being a part of the administrative team and and seeing what I could do to make you know make everything better.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I tell you, as assistant principal, you you really get some great stories. I mean the students and staff sometimes too, but the students really keep you entertained as an assistant principal. I used to love to sit around uh the lunch table in between second and third lunch and while the administrators would eat very quickly, uh, and we would just share the different stories that had gone on that day. I could have written a book.
SPEAKER_02:I'll tell you I had some of the most amazing things happen all the way from you know parents coming in that you're thinking that they're mad at their kid, and they come in and you know you got to get a hold of them because they're fixing a, you know, they're fixing a whip and right there in your office, you know. And so there's just all kinds of stories that I that I could tell that I don't want to I don't want to get into. But uh a lot of fun. I mean that I had a lot of fun as assistant principal with with my colleagues and other administrators, and you know, you didn't want to draw the short stick and be soccer boy in all the soccer games. You know, it's just it became a a thing. But now Mike Bryan's also introduced me to to summer conferences. I had not been to a whole lot. We've been to a few. Uh Mike Stanton was my principal in Dalton, and and you know, and I learned a lot from him. And you know, it's a huge advantage being in administration to under somebody that's a you know Georgia principal of the year. Yeah. And uh so former Gale president. Former Gale president, Mike Stanton. And so uh that continued with Mike Bryan's, uh Dr. Bryan's at in Cartersville. And you know, I remember going to Summer Gale and us having our uh leadership sessions there and and and having our executive team meet, and that kind of kicked off the year. I just remember it was my favorite thing to go to Gale, and at the hotel around the swimming pool, we have all you know ever all the administrators there, and you know, we would kind of kick off our meeting uh every year. And so that's that was a lot of good times. But you know, shortly after that I I became the principal and and and everything kind of changed a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. So you became principal at Cartersville High School. That's when I first met you and got to know you. And uh what year was that? And and how many years were you the principal at Carter School?
SPEAKER_02:It was like 2001, maybe 2002, that I became the principal at Cartersville, and I ended up being the principal there for 12 years. Uh Bibby Morgan was one of the principals ahead of me. He was kind of like my mentor. He was still there working at the board office. And you know, I I set a goal that I didn't really say to anybody. You know, I knew Bibby was the principal at Cartersville for 10 years, and I was like, man, if I could be the principal at Cartersville for 10 years, that'd be great. So I had that, you know, a little bit of a goal be, you know, be there that long. And and so, but you know, things really changed because when you I found out when you sit in that seat, everything is different. Yeah. Because it doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter if it's caf food in the cafeteria, everything's coming back to you.
SPEAKER_03:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:You know, so everything kind of changed, and you know, we were very fortunate that we had a great team at Cartersville and a lot of incredible memories. I had great uh assistant principals. Uh, you know, at one time, Ben, I I counted, I just kept track of people, you know, either uh in a leadership role as a instructional supervisor or assistant principal or you know, head of a department or something. At one time, I think I had 25 former assistant principals that were at the board office at some board level at some capacity. Yeah, that's pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think that's one of the neat things about leadership is you get to pour into those, uh that next generation, and then you get to see them, whether they move to the board office as a director or assistant superintendent or principal somewhere. I think that's one of the neat, neat things. So you stayed at Cartersville for 11 years as the high school principal. And then what was your next move?
SPEAKER_02:Then uh I left Cartersville and and Wes Taylor became the uh superintendent at Lowndes High School in Baldasta. And so I I followed Wes. And again, that's pretty hard to pretty hard to do to go into a high school when the former principal is now the superintendent, and the former principal is also the Georgia principal of the year. That's right. So I went to been there a long time. But that was a really good move. I you know, my family and I, we had a great time uh being in Baldosta and being at Lounge High School. It was just an incredible place. But, you know, I look back on it, you know, and and I and I realized there were a lot of things that were happening. Of course, I was growing and I was learning. You know, I felt like God was preparing me while I was at Cartersville. But when I went to Londs, I knew that there was a a bigger picture somewhere. I just didn't know exactly what that would be because uh the being a principal at Lounge High School is a lot different than being a principal at Cartersville. It's uh with you know, I had nine assistant principals, you know. Uh so you're you're managing this large organization, large group of people. And I had I had somebody that came to Lounge with me to be an assistant principal, and it was Tan Downer. And you and I had talked about this earlier. Was there somebody that, you know, had an impact? Tan was an incredible math teacher at Cartersville. I mean, it didn't matter what curriculum we were teaching. Remember, we changed several times during the past. It didn't matter which curriculum we were teaching, we were always at the top in math. And the reason was because uh Tan Downer was a department chair, but she wasn't only just leading the department, she was training other young teachers when t other teachers came in, and uh we were really just knocking it out of the park. And there were many times, even when I was principal at Cartersville, that I wanted to make Tan an assistant principal, but I was like, man, I'm gonna lose her in that math part. That's a selfish thing to say because I finally learned when I went to Lowndes High School and she came that it was the best move ever. Um that, you know, not only did I have her uh she was going to be training other teachers. Yeah, you know, and training other teachers in in a in a good way. And and she was just amazing the number of math teachers that she'd helped develop during that time, and it it really made an impact on me. And I I look back on it, I was like, man, I should have made her, you know, assistant principal a long time ago. She could have she could have trained some more teachers at Cartersville. But uh, you know, those type of people that you're surrounded with, I mean, and that's and you know this from being a principal, that's 90% of it is making sure that you got the right people in the right places.
SPEAKER_01:Um you know you assist the principal at Cartersville, then you become the principal there. Um you stay there a long time, and then you go to lounge, like you said, you're following someone that's now they're the superintendent, they've been the principal for a long time. You know, a lot of new leaders. They may be listening right now on this podcast, or or maybe the next year they're gonna find themselves as the principal of the new school. There's a lot of thought and talk and discussion, you know, what do you do as a new leader? You know, you've you've got to earn their trust. Whether you were there at Cartersville as an assistant principal or coming into a new district, how did you go about um establishing yourself as the leader and earning the trust of your people?
SPEAKER_02:Well, in any type of leadership role, consistency is the key. And people have to know exactly what they can count on. And, you know, I've always had this philosophy. I learned this the hard way at Cartersville probably, uh, but I also learned it from Mike Stanton at Dalton. But you know, the fastest form of school improvement is when you hire people. Used to as an administrator, it it really bothered me like if I if somebody transferred or if their husband transferred another location, you lost a teacher. Um but the fastest form of school improvements when you hire somebody, you either you got better or you you got worse. And so I realize how important that hiring process uh is to the school district is making sure that you hire quality people, quality teachers. Um but at the same time, you know, when you go into a place like Lowndes High School, and then you know, understand, you start talking about the quality of the people, you cannot have school improvement without discipline. And sometimes when in today's day and time, you mention discipline as a negative word to people. You know, and when I say discipline, I'm talking about, you know, whether kids do what an adult asks them to do.
SPEAKER_03:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:So that was my philosophy going into uh Lynds High School was, you know, I gotta make sure number one that the kids do what adults ask them to do, because we got great, we had great kids, we had great teachers. Um and so I just wanted to be consistent. I wanted to be the consistent person. Now, when you start out like that and you become firm, you've got to realize you got to go through some some tough times. But but in the end, what you get from that, you know, is is worth it because they say a high school campus changes every three years, changes every three years because it takes you four years to graduate. So it you've got also got to make sure that you stay on top of that. And that's one of the things that I saw at Cartersville was you can't just sit back and relax, oh, think that we've got oh, we've got it going, we're going on right now. No, it takes continually to make sure that everything, you know, and the the processes that you set in place, the traditions that you set in place, that those continue because they could they could just fade away. And so um that was very important to me at at Lows was making sure that we had consistency and that the the students understood that we love them. I think we came up with a t-shirt and I I've got one of the coaches that had their t-shirt on at practice, I got a really nice picture they sent me. But on the back of the shirt, it just said, Do you love them enough? And it was a question. You know, on the front it said Lounge High School, do you love them enough? Do you love them enough that you'll do whatever it takes to reach them? Do you love them enough that you'll do whatever it takes to to make them make it, you know? Uh that includes you know, helping them to do what's right.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know. And so in the end, when you've got kids that will do what adults ask them to do, then you have a lot of successful, successful people.
SPEAKER_01:That's a great slogan. If I was watching and I was about to become a new principal maybe the following year, I might steal that slogan, do you love them enough? I think that that just speaks volumes. I think that sets the tone. You talked about the importance of hiring. Uh what were you looking for, whether you were hiring teachers or assisted principals? What what are the characteristics and how did you go about the hiring process?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it really came to fruition when I became a superintendent, and I realized then that I wasn't necessarily the person that was doing all the hiring. Yes, I hired principals, but that was about it. You know, I hired associate superintendents, superintendents. But I realized that, hey, we've got to make a big deal of this hiring process, and I've got to train people that are doing hiring you know, to make sure that we get the right people. And so I r I just remember all the time asking my principals, are you a hundred percent? Are you a hundred percent? And you know, at first they'd look at me like a hundred percent, have you hired a hundred percent? Well, still look at it like what what do you mean, have you hired or did you get one hundred percent better than what you were with the people that transferred or the people that retired? Did you hire better 100%? And so if they if I knew if they could tell me that, hey, I hired 100% better every year, we were getting better. You get better. We were getting better. And so uh, you know, you find out that going through the process of being an administrator in education, it's all about dealing with the with the people. Yeah, I c there was one day that I coached, but then I, you know, you end up coaching coaches and then you end up coaching teachers, and then you then you end up coaching principals.
SPEAKER_03:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:You know, and it and it's uh it's they don't just automatically get this information. Um, there's a lot of experience in 34 years in education, and sometimes you have to learn the hard way. And so I just remember always asking those principals, listen, did you hire 100%? Did you did you get better? And see, even outside of the hiring process, the current employees that you have, you know, do you have the capability that you can have an honest and open conversation with them that you have you've witnessed them teach and you've evaluated them enough that you can you can help them. You know, it's not about you know a gaya or anything like that, it's about how can I help this teacher, specific teacher. You've got to get it down to an individual level. How can I help this specific teacher become a better teacher?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And then so if you're always hiring 100% and then you're helping your teachers to grow and they're becoming better, you're giving them tools. I remember we first put cameras in the classroom. Well, that was just a tool. It wasn't a tool for me. It's not not that I wanted to to see their classroom, uh, because I I think of it as like a coach. What does a coach do? They watch video all the time all the time. And so I wanted my teachers to be able to look at video, you own it, nobody else owns it. The only way anybody else is gonna see the video is if you give them access to it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And so all of a sudden now I got teachers that are looking at themselves in a different way as far as how they teach. Well, the next step was we hired academic coaches. And we hired academic coaches at the central office level. We did they were not a part of the school level. Yeah. That they need to have a little bit of teeth. So if you put this whole picture together, we're hiring higher quality people. Uh we have a reason for people, you know, that's another thing that's the re that's the superintendent's responsibility is to establish a culture to where people want to be there. You know, that they want to come there and teach. And if you have a position that opens, you have 50 people that apply because they want to be there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And they want to be there because they know you don't have any discipline issues. They want to be there because they know that you have the facilities. They want to be there because they know that you can provide them what they need to be able to teach. And have that camera is one of those. And so you throw in the academic coaches into good teachers, and they start coaching, and and the teacher feels comfortable. Hey, I'm going to send this to my academic coach, and what can I do to get better? Then all of a sudden you start looking across the building, it's like, man, we're talking about teaching and learning, you know, all the time. We're talking about teaching and learning, and we're getting better. And then our test scores and and our results started getting better. And it's like, you know, I d it's not rocket science to me, you know, all of that fits together. But if you're missing one of those pieces, like for example, you have a school that has a a difficult time with discipline. Well, when they go to the next school, they're gonna have a difficult time with this one. So it all works together. Um my elementary school principals were probably the most important people in the game uh as far as you know, having their teachers trained and and and their teachers you know being able to teach at a level uh that's gonna be supportive for you know the rest of their education. And so everybody has a role, you know, and they understand that. And and they end you know, the the the principal is the most important person in the school district. And man, I just I agree. I just I wanted to just pour into the principals. I mean, I wanted to pour as much as I could. But at the same time, you know, I remember having conversations with principals that, hey, you're a good person. I love you, I know your family, I love your family, but you just you can't do it. That's right. You can't get it done. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And you gotta be willing to have those conversations. That's a tough conversation. It is. That's right. I think that's one of the things challenging for leaders, especially new leaders, is um that they know in their gut. They've looked at the data, they they know that a change needs to be made, but sometimes they struggle having those hard conversations. So I think that's very, very important.
SPEAKER_02:And and nobody's ever had that conversation with them. That's what blew that's what blew my mind. Even when I was a principal, you know, and you you finally get to a point, you know, you call a teacher in and say, Hey, listen, I love you. I love you family, but but you can't teach. You know? And you can almost see the pressure release off of them. Yeah. And I'm not saying that in a negative way, I'm saying it in a positive way. The pressure release, and they'll do one of two things every single time. They'll come back in the next day and they'll say, Okay, what do I need to do to get better?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, and if they come back in and they say, What do I need to get better? You got a good teacher. That that's that person is fixed to become a good teacher. Or they'll come in and give your resignation. I I I can't do it.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Because the gig's up now. That's right. Somebody finally called me out on it.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:You know?
SPEAKER_01:I think that's a critical, critical component of being a leader is having those difficult conversations. You know, you mentioned, we're going to transition to you becoming superintendent here in just a second, but you mentioned your academic coaches, which I agree are very, very important. And you you made a comment that they were district-level academic coaches, not the school, I think your words were so they'd have some teeth. I 100% agree with that philosophy, but talk a little bit more about that. Why do you think it's important for those academic coaches to have that uh to be under the district umbrella, if you will, leadership, rather than, hey, I'm the principal and they they they work for me, answer for me, do whatever I tell them to do.
SPEAKER_02:Well, in my experience, and and I gotta give some credit to Jennifer Carter, who is the current superintendent of Hart County now, she was my associate superintendent. In my experience, and in her experience also, we had both been a part of academic coaches being at the school level. And it's almost like they just kind of blended in. You know, they they when you go to the school level, the ultimate authority is the principal. Yes, assistant principals have authority, but the ultimate authority is the principal. So it's hard to have somebody at the school level like an academic coach that's gonna have as much or more authority than the principal. So our philosophy was they were gonna be central office employees b because we wanted our teachers to know how important that was to them, that you know, they did ha they could ask teachers to do something, you know, with with a little bit of authority. And so the struggle with that though is is getting them to to work on that same level, the teacher, with the teacher not being intimidated or being threatened by that person. And I think once they got to know our academic coaches and they got to know their purpose, you know, and that was had the biggest impact because now I'm taking my classroom camera and my video, hey, I got this great lesson. Will you take a look at this? Is there anything I need to do better? And so they would email it to the academic coach, they'd take a look at it and they'd give them feedback. Well, it goes from them sending video to the academic coach and and getting better to all of a sudden now I'm sending it across the hall to one of my colleagues, you know, and I and we're sharing it's like, hey, you did a great job teaching this part on sales. Um why don't you record that and I'll show that to my class, and that you know, you know, they got a great session on sales. So it it became this camaraderie, you know, to where we're all kind of working together, we're teaching the same uh subject. So, you know, you do a great job on sales, and I I do a lot a good job in this area, so we kind of you know work together. And so that's when we started seeing our our test scores really just, you know, flourish where, you know, kids were they were getting it, man. They were getting instruction and um we were we were getting high high quality instruction, but it the the theme became what you hear was everybody's talking about teaching and learning. They're talking about not talking about well, well, I gotta go do this or I gotta go do that. And it was about teaching and learning, and I think it gave them a an incredible sense of purpose, you know. That's that's how they belonged. And then when you hire a new teacher, when I say a new teacher, I'm talking about right out of college. And when you get those kind of veteran teachers, do you want to hire young teachers out of college that hadn't been tainted, so to speak? Yeah and so when they came into that department, man, they understood, hey, this is this is the way we operate, you know, and they're getting training from from good people. That's right. And so that's sustainable. You know, that that type of of teaching and learning is sustainable.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So you're principal down at Lounge. Um, by this point, you've been a principal for a total how many years? 15 years. Okay, I did eleven, so I don't know if I could have done 15. That's that's impressive. And then Hart County superintendent comes open. And I think that's a little probably a little special place to your heart there, but talk about that whole process. How and why you became a superintendent.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I grew up in Hart County, and my initial thought when somebody called me was no, I'll never go to Hart County as a as a superintendent. I won't go back home because always people always tell you in your career, don't go back home.
SPEAKER_01:I won't go back home.
SPEAKER_02:So I had that philosophy. I didn't know why, but you know, people always say, Don't go back home. And I was like, no, I'm not going to Hart County. I know how Hart County is. They eat their own, you know what I'm saying? So there was a a part in my heart though that I wanted to go and and give back as much as I could, but I just knew that I couldn't, and I and I love being at Lowndes. I love the situation that we were in. I could see myself retiring there. Um, you know, but it was my wife that actually said, Why why would you not think about doing that? You know, you you never know what God's plan is and what he has in store for you. And so we were in church and we we were going to First Baptist Church, Lake Park, and that's where we live when we were about Asta. And the preacher was talking about, you know, God's plan. He was talking about, you know, if you don't do what he asks you to do, he's gonna get somebody else to do it. You know, she had her arms folded and she's looking at me, and I'm like, I'm I'm not looking over there because I'm not going to our guarantee. And then finally it it was like, I got it, okay, I got it. I need to I need to at least go through the process and I need to check this out. And and going through the process, you know, I fell in love with their board members. Uh it was just uh uh an automatic fit. Uh I think they they liked what I had to say. Um and I I did talk to them about how tough it was gonna be. They did talk to me. You know, are you gonna be able to handle the tough decisions coming back to your hometown and people that you know and you know their families, and you know, are you gonna be able to to handle that? And and I, you know, I accepted that challenge and I said, you know, I I know that's gonna be hard. I know it's gonna be tough. Yeah. Uh, but it it's something that I want to do because I do feel like it deep in my heart that I want to, you know, try to get back give back, you know, so to speak.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's awesome. And you were able to finish up your career where you grew up, at your hometown, and kind of give back to that community that had poured into you as a youngster growing up.
SPEAKER_02:Ended up being the best thing that I'd ever done. Um those seven or eight years were just it was incredible. I and you know, the people that I was able to work with, the uh the project. principles that I were able to have an impact on the school board. Oh my goodness, the school board was unbelievable. And it just didn't matter, you know, if we had any turnover or it it's like it was just you know, j just one unit and then we were just very, very fortunate. And um you know, there's a lot of things that we did intentionally, you know, as far as our board training and as far as um the direction that we were going. I I used uh you know the University of Georgia quite often in helping us with establish our strategic plan.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah? Was that Carl Vinston?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah Carl Vinston Institute we did our strategic plan and and you know one thing that was big too for me was um being able to reach the community you know and and doing surveys with the community to kind of understand what their expectations were Carl Vinstin Institute helped us do do that. And so I felt like we were very intentional on all the moves that we made the um building the College and Career Academy was one of the best things that we did and we kept it on the high school campus. It's a beautiful building too it ended up being an an an unbelievable thing for our community. I think now if you go back and count and you know and it hadn't been that long that the College and Career Academy has been you know up and running but I think we have like 25 or 26 state champions out of that building. Wow in all the different areas. I I know the first champions we had maybe it was the first year is we won a national championship in video game design. And you see all the schools represent they're all private schools and all magnet schools and you got Hart County Hart County right here. And so our four guys went up there they were just extremely talented and what a national championship in video game design and it's like you know from that point on the the College and Career Academy the game the game was on.
SPEAKER_01:It was all you know talk a little bit you know as we get close to lining up this episode but one of the things I was always impressed about while I was over in O'Coney County was watching the graduation rate at Hart County which speaks volumes to uh your leadership but also the total effort that that takes uh from pre-K all the way up to twelfth grade.
SPEAKER_02:Well it's a it's a community effort too because one of the the most important things to me was what is the connection? What what connection does each individual kid what why are they here? Do they have a reason for being at school? Okay that changes the game because now I'm talking to employees you know you might be the reason why this kid is coming to school every day. You know w what is the reason and do we have everything available to them uh that's going to reach these different areas because the kids are different. It might be something totally different that's going to reach one kid that reaches another kid. But you know do they have a reason for being at school? And the reason ninety percent of the time I believe is because somebody has a relationship with them and some adult has a relationship with them. And so when you start having reasons for them to be at school and that was part of the College and Career Academy and and you know one of the things that we did as far as graduation was you had to be connected to an organization. You didn't have a choice.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You had to be connected to one of the organizations. And then the of course at the same time you know the state says that you know you've you've got to be able to have one of these areas that you uh specialize in as far as graduation goes. And so that really helped out a bunch and so when we started giving reasons for kids being at school and a lot of times if you look at the monthly average daily attendance rate our high school had the highest average daily attendance rate than even some of the elementary schools were elementary school yet you you don't have an option to be at school kids going to bring you to your parents going to bring you to school. And so um I felt like because of that, you know we that's the reason why we we were having success. You know the kids were at school they wanted to be at school they had a reason to be at school and so that's when the teaching and learning can take place.
SPEAKER_01:That's awesome. Maybe we'll finish it up with this just tell us what is the biggest difference in your opinion from going from assistant principal to principal and then into that superintendency from a principal perspective. What what are the biggest differences in those two?
SPEAKER_02:Well first of all all of my mentors uh of course they were old school you know I I think I'm an old soul myself but um they were always do not get into the principalship the administration too so you know take your time you know enjoy what you do do you enjoy teaching first of all if you if you don't enjoy teaching you do not need to be an assistant principal. If you don't enjoy teaching you don't need to be a a principal but if you enjoy what you do uh then the r the right time will come. Same way with the superintendent I my mentors also hey do not become a superintendent too early. You wait till the the timing is right. I felt like the timing was right for me. Um but when you step into that role you know as being a principal um and I'd always heard this but I didn't realize what it meant. You know, sitting in that chair is is a lot different. And so that's absolutely right because I saw all the things that I'd never seen before that I was responsible for now. You know and some things I knew about some things I did not know about. So that that's a huge challenge and and to me to be a successful principal you have to make sure that you go out of your way to to get people on board you know however that however that can be my my worst fear was that I was going to be out here marching buddy and I'm and I'm I'm going and I'm gung ho. Nobody behind you I turn around and there's there's nobody there. That's right. And so that's kind of where you know do you love them enough came from and uh you know how can I get everybody on this same same page because um you know how teachers are all different. You uh heck you could go around and give them a hundred dollar bill and you know and you can all have one or two hey you try to buy me off you gave me a hundred dollar bill you know that's that's a negative thing.
SPEAKER_01:So why couldn't I get it in twenties?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah so you know the biggest thing with that is is you need people and you need great mentors. Amen uh I look back across my career and you know just people to be able to to talk to uh one of the best things I did probably at Cartersville was when I became the principal I started a a group that we met on a monthly basis and they were basically all new principals in that area. You know and we'd get together we'd go play golf together we'd we'd just get together and talk hey bring your bring your faculty handbook and let's all just sit around a table and talk about each other's you know look at each other's family you know you don't have to reinvent the wheel there's somebody out there that's not somebody's already got it there's somebody that's doing some good things. And so um you know having those mentors and and just you know having be able to have conversation with people is huge.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. Well that's awesome. I think that's a great segue into the importance of Gale uh and the affiliate organizations is you you do have those mentors and you do have those colleagues and it's also a reminder for us that are veteran administrators we need to be pouring into the lives of our newer and younger administrators. And Jay you you were fantastic as a principal for me when I was a new principal I could remember having a conversation with you one time you probably don't even remember it but just about a school budget. I had no clue what I was doing with the school budget and how and you know because they don't tell you that stuff and they hand you the keys and you're the new principal and you're too afraid to ask people in your district. And then the same thing when I became superintendent you were very helpful when I would ask you things uh about that you know people think we get these jobs and that means that we know what we're doing but uh a lot of times we have very little clue of what we're doing and we need those colleagues and mentors like you referred to and you've been a great one for a lot of people. Well thank you Jay for joining us today appreciate it and thank all of you for joining another episode of Gail Unscripted.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you
