‘I just feel honored.’ Smiths Station students start 2020 spring semester with new principal
A new principal greeted Smiths Station High School students Monday as they returned to class from the Christmas break and started the 2020 spring semester.
Brad Cook, who had been the principal of the Smiths Station Freshman Center since 2012, has replaced the retired Joaquin Richards, who was the SSHS principal for six years.
Michelle Mullinax, the center’s assistant principal, is serving as the lead administrator there, Lee County Schools superintendent Mac McCoy told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Cook was the selection committee’s unanimous choice, McCoy said.
McCoy called Cook “a strong leader … and we look forward to that type of leadership at SSHS.”
“I’ve always been in love with this community of Smiths Station,” Cook told the L-E, “and I just feel honored.”
Cook praised the previous leadership, but he mentioned several areas he wants to focus on for possible changes at the school:
- Safety and security.
- Collaboration.
- Transparency.
“I love to get feedback, because I by far am not the smartest man on campus,” he said, “and I rely on a lot of other people to help me make informed decisions.”
Cook has been an educator for 19 years.
He grew up in Ozark, Alabama, although he moved around as part of a military family. He served in the Army for five years and achieved the rank of specialist.
Cook finished his bachelor’s degree in secondary education English language arts at Auburn University in 2000 and became an English teacher at Opelika High School.
After earning his master’s degree in education administration at Auburn, he became assistant principal at Valley’s W.F. Burns Middle School in 2006.
From 2008-10, he was assistant principal at SSHS. Then he left to be principal of Greenville (Ala.) High School. But he stayed there for only one year because his connection with Smiths Station compelled him to return, Cook said.
“I was jumping at the chance to come back,” he said.
So when the Smiths Station Freshman Center opened in 2011, he was the assistant principal. A year later, he was promoted to be the center’s principal. That’s also when he earned his doctorate in education administration from Auburn.
Cook explained what he finds special about Smiths Station.
“There’s a lot of pride in the schools and the community,” he said. “It’s something you don’t find in a lot of locations in public school anymore, having that community support, that community passion for the school system. … Not that the other school systems didn’t have support, it’s just nowhere near the level that you get in Smiths Station.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 1:14 PM.
