Back in February, the high school administration saw several changes. Mr. William Deal went from high school principal to the Director of Teaching and Learning, Mr. Steven Mott went from assistant principal to interim principal and Mr. Jeffery Griffith moved up to the interim assistant principal. Griffith previously served as the eleventh-grade history teacher. Last year, he moved down to the middle school to serve as the dean of students. While these positions are currently interim, they will be reevaluated over the summer. 

Although Mott has worked with Griffith for two months so far, he has really enjoyed his time with Griffith thus far. They have created a close bond with each other in their new positions. Mott and Griffith have been working together to find what will work best for the school. 

“Working with Mr. Griffith has been great. He’s been doing a great job here for the first month. I really enjoy working with him,” Mott said. 

In taking on this new position in February, Mott has taken time to reflect on his almost seven years working alongside Deal. Mott admires Deal’s public speaking skills whenever he would address large audiences at events like graduation and National Honor Society and Quill and Scroll induction ceremonies. Despite the fact that his position is currently interim and job spots will open up, Mott still plans to stay in the district and to become Principal.

“I definitely plan on staying in the district, the plan is to continue on with this position. My goal is to continue on here as the principal. I love Freedom and I have been here for six years,” Mott said. 

With new positions come new changes. Even though there are a few more months of school left, there are no major changes planned to be made. The staff plans to look over the handbook and see what is working with the school. If something is not working, a better plan will be put in place. 

One idea for the new school year is to have something along the lines of a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program. It will be different from the middle school’s PBIS program, “Positive attitude, Accountable for behavior, Wise and respectful choices, Spread kindness” (PAWS). Mott does not plan to have students walking on each side of the hallways. He does plan to find other ideas that will help throughout the school. Mott also wants to try and limit the number of pep assemblies the school holds, and only have them for the most special events. There was a pep assembly for both the girls basketball and bocce teams on March 3 because the staff felt it necessary to support the teams. 

Overall, Mott hopes to make more changes at the high school next school year, and he is hopeful looking ahead.