Minden High School’s new principal Becky Wilson calls her first day “crazy busy” and “surreal.”
“So many people invested in my life when I was at Minden High School,” she said. “From teachers, to counselors, to assistant principals to coaches, they poured out into me in hopes that I could be a difference-maker. I get to do this for another child, and when I look at each one of them, I think, ‘You can do something great and something big.’”
With 845 students on the roster this year, Wilson said she sees potential in every one of them. Over the last four days, she, along with the faculty and staff, took the time to look at each student’s records to make sure they got into the classes they needed for the pathway they choose to graduate.
While building upon the great things former principal Robin Tucker instilled, Wilson said her vision is “authentic relationships and servant leaders.”
Building relationships between teachers and students will help the students better realize their potential, she said. She wants the teachers to be servant leaders in that through those relationships, they invest themselves in the students and help them do what’s best for each one of them.
“Their success may look different than another student’s success, but that doesn’t mean they can’t succeed,” she said. “What excites me is five years from now, 10 years from now, they are the ones who are going to be making the difference in Minden that will directly affect me. So what I’m doing now is making an investment for the future.”
In 2015-16, MHS was a “C” school. Wilson said while MHS may be a “C” school, it is the one school in Webster Parish that made the most growth with more than nine points.
“I do not want our students at any point in time to think that mediocrity is enough,” she said. “That is my first step as principal of Minden High School – academics, athletics, everything across the board. These students need to know that the expectation for them is to excel. Our students need to understand that they are better than fair. They are better than ‘just getting by.’ I really stressed today that every day, we’re going to daily make choices to do the right thing, daily take action to achieve their goals.”
They may take a hit this year for 2016-17 when school performance scores are released, she said, but she sees MHS only improving from there.
She spent the first hours of the first day of school welcoming incoming freshmen during orientation, and set high expectations. With the student council, the MHS cheerleaders and other upperclassmen by her side, she shared some of her experiences, and the student council encouraged them to get involved in their high school life.
“We stressed that it was really important to respect all faculty and staff,” Senior Ashton Smith, student council secretary, said. “We also told the students that being involved in clubs and sports is a great way to meet new friends and find your place in the school. Being an involved student really makes high school so much more fun.”
Wilson is a 1997 graduate of MHS, and during her address at the general assembly Monday morning, she told the students, “In May of 1997, I had the privilege and the honor to be counted as an MHS graduate. Today, you have the same opportunities that were presented to me…My hope is that you will have fond memories of your life as a Tider and the realization that you did it because you daily chose to do it.”
