TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2000
Columbian grad to be principal at middle school
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
When Kevin Campbell steps into the principal's office at the Tiffin Middle School this fall, he will experience a sense of déja vu.
The 1979 Columbian graduate would be returning to the school he knew as West Junior High after being approved as the new principal during the Tiffin City Schools regular board meeting Monday night.
Campbell, whose parents reside in Tiffin, is moving from the West Virginia school system. He began his journey by attending college at Marietta College in Marietta, earning a bachelor's degree in drama, speech and English then moving across the river to earn a master's at West Virginia University in educational leadership.
He served as a teacher at Jackson Junior High in Vienna, W.Va., teaching language arts for 11 years, from 1986 to 1997. He then served as acting principal and assistant principal of the school from 1996 to the present.
His move back to his hometown was precipitated by a desire to locate his family closer to their extended family.
"My parents are still here, and I wanted for my children to have the same kind of relationship with them that I had with my grandparents, who lived in Findlay,'' Campbell explained. "That's worth a lot. And I had a wonderful school experience in Tiffin, and wonderful teachers at Columbian. And having the opportunity to come back and contribute to that tradition was appealing to me.''
All of the pieces fell into place for Campbell when hearing of the opening, and going through the interview process with Tiffin City Schools administrators -- including a meeting with outgoing principal, Terry Phillips.
"Terry Phillips was my sophomore English teacher,'' he added.
A tour of the building left a strong impression with Campbell that the district has maintained the building and made use of every available space for education.
"What I remember as locker rooms are now classrooms,'' he said. "And what was once a mass study hall is now the library. The old library is now classrooms and part of the auditorium has been made into two classrooms.''
Campbell said that he is looking forward to working with the district in persuading the community to match the Exceptional Needs Facility grant to construct a new middle school building to house grades 6-8.
And he is looking forward to working with the staff and students at the school.
"One of the first things I would like to do is meet with the faculty to look at the data available about student performance,'' Campbell said, "and have a conversation about what does excellent learning and excellent teaching look like. And then, what does excellent principaling look like. And then continue to shape or objectives in doing what's best for our students.''
He and his wife Dawn have two children, a 3-year-old daughter, Edain, and a 2-year-old son, Chase.