Phenix City principal Vickers leaves legacy of leadership, service as he nears retirement
Central High School improving its graduation rate from 51% to 96% during Tommy Vickers’ 11 years as principal is reason enough to believe his leadership has created a positive impact. Listen to people he has guided there, and you understand why.
Math teacher Sarah Weber, the school’s Beta Club sponsor, told the Ledger-Enquirer that Vickers has empowered staff members to do their best.
“It’s one thing to come to work and like your job, to enjoy what you do,” she said, “and it’s another thing to come to work and feel important and feel valued and feel supported and have your administration to get excited about the things you’re excited about.”
Central senior Ellison Laney, 17, summarized what she hears classmates say about Vickers.
“They overall think he’s a really great guy,” she told the L-E. “I don’t know how you couldn’t. The student body, I would say, sees him less as this scary, mysterious figure and more like, not a dad, but like a guardian type of role — less dictator-like and more fellowship-esque.”
No wonder Phenix City Schools superintendent Randy Wilkes told the L-E Vickers is “second to no one” among principals.
“To say he will be missed, it’s an understatement to say the least,” Wilkes said. “He has left his mark, and he leaves a legacy. He leaves something that I believe that can be sustained and built upon and improved upon.”
Vickers’ final day at Central, Feb. 28, will conclude 30 years at the school, first as a math teacher and assistant football coach (1992-2006) then as an assistant principal (2006-2010) before becoming principal.
“I’m going to run a school that’s going to be disciplined,” he said, “but also try to make it an environment that people enjoy coming to work and students enjoy coming to school.”
Commitment to service
Vickers, 53, told the L-E he is retiring from the education profession to give him more time to pursue another passion: military service. He is a brigadier general in the Alabama Army National Guard, leading the 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command since February.
In March, he is scheduled to start an 11-month deployment in Kuwait as the commanding general of the 135th Sustainment Command Camp. He served there as chief of staff during a yearlong deployment in 2013. He also was deployed in Iraq as battalion commander of the 1203rd Engineer Battalion from May 2007 to June 2008.
“The timing is right,” Vickers said about retiring. “I’ve deployed twice before, and the school system has been very generous in having someone back-fill me and let me come back to my original position. But this time, I just thought because of the timing and where I am in my career and other opportunities for me in the military after I get back, it would cause me to be away from the school even more. … At some point, it feels like I’m being unfair to keep leaving and coming back.”
Vickers’ father, grandfather and great-grandfather also served in the military.
“It’s just been a lineage for me,” he said.
He grew up in San Antonio, joined the Guard at 17 and graduated from Cole High School, where his father was stationed in the Army at Fort Sam Houston.
Vickers learned this mantra about service: “If I don’t, who will? … That’s what has kept me going this long.”
He went to Auburn University to become an engineer, but said he realized his “heart and soul” was to become a high school football coach. And when he became an assistant coach at Central, he realized being a successful educator and soldier required similar leadership skills.
After his first deployment, his goal to become a head football coach changed.
Instead of using his leadership to influence only football players as a coach, he could influence all students in the school as principal.
“It’s seeing the students or athletes or the soldiers have success,” he said. “If you can be part of training them, molding them, mentoring them to be successful at whatever it is they do, that’s an internal reward you can’t get in any other business.”
Vickers earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, a master’s degree in secondary education from Columbus State University and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Auburn University.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard in 1988 through the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. He graduated from the Engineer Office Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms and Service Staff School, the Command and General Staff Course, the Engineer Pre-Command Course and the U.S. Army War College.
Vickers has been the PCS Teacher of the Year and Administrator of the Year. His military honors include two Legion of Merit medals, two Bronze Stars, a Meritorious Service Mdal and three Commendation Medals and Achievement Medals.
“His service to the United States is admirable,” Wilkes said. “It’s heartfelt. He has a true love of country. The only thing that rivals his love of country is his love of Central High School.”
Praised for inclusive approach
Ellison said Vickers “wants the school to be one force.”
Despite his coaching background and Central having a successful athletics program, Vickers has supported all extracurricular activities, Weber said. And all Central students participate in at least one, Wilkes said.
“He does a wonderful job highlighting our students that may not be our athletes but are still doing wonderful things in our school system,” Weber said. “That shows our kids that he cares. It shows our staff that he cares.”
Vickers gave Weber the resources to develop the Beta Club into a competitor at the state and national levels, she said. He even invested his own money into the club’s induction ceremonies to turn them into a catered event instead of a cupcake moment, Weber said.
“He wanted to show that was important,” she said. “… It was a breath of fresh air.”
When she goes into his office with a “crazy idea,” Weber said, “He’s like, ‘OK. How do you think we can make it work?’ He doesn’t shoot it down, even as outlandish as it may sound.”
Such as flying 17 students to Oklahoma for a national Beta Club competition, she said.
By creating a dual enrollment program with Chattahoochee Valley Community College and boosting the curriculum and technology in the classroom, Vickers has helped lift the instruction level, Weber said. He has given students more chances to graduate through recovery programs for better grades and more credit, she said.
Five years ago, when Central started giving the ACT college entrance exam to the entire junior class, its average composite score was a 17.9. Now, it’s 18.7. And the school’s college and career readiness indicator went from 63% to 90% during the same period.
“It’s really a family atmosphere here,” Weber said. “… He will be sorely missed, and they are ginormous shoes to fill for whoever comes next. … He’s put a ton of good things in place. I’m excited for the years to come, but he’s a tough act to follow.”
Vickers deflected the praise back to the Central family.
“I’m just thankful to work with some great people along the way,” he said. “… Whether it was teachers, administrators, central office, board members, the community, . . . the relationships I’ve formed here over the last 28-30 years have been very fulfilling.”
