Familiar faces, new roles, same passion
Familiar faces are filling new positions within the administration of Trussville City Schools.
Lisa Berry’s new role as assistant superintendent of Trussville City Schools left a vacancy in her previous role of Hewitt-Trussville Middle School Principal, now filled by Jennifer Abney. Abney’s preceding position was as principal of Magnolia Elementary School, which is now occupied by Phyllis Faust.
Both of the administrators expressed a focus on supporting the individual child’s overall wellbeing in order to optimize the learning experience.
“The social-emotional need has to come first because they can’t be educated until they’re okay emotionally,” Abney said. “If a child comes to school and they’ve had a bad night at home with their parents or maybe they’re struggling with friends, that’s a distraction. That gets in the way of us being able to educate them.
“Our students and society in general have a harder time with coping mechanisms,” Abney added. “There’s a tendency to go to extremes when things don’t go our way. So we have to meet kids where they are; whether that’s speaking to a counselor or falling back on our PACE program and character education and giving them the right resources that they need.”
Faust echoed the sentiment.
“My dissertation was on student belonging and student voice. That’s what I’m about. If they don’t feel like they belong, if they don’t feel like they’re valued or that they matter, it doesn’t matter what you’re trying to teach them. I look forward to developing student leadership teams and having not only the teachers’ voices, but working with the kids to where they know that everyone has a voice,” she said.
As both leaders agree on caring for the individual child, they do so as a foundational necessity to maximize the child’s potential for academic excellence.
“Technology has completely changed the way we educate our kids,” Abney said. “We have to make sure that our assignments and instruction are authentic and that we’re not just using technology just to use it. These students have instant information at their hands. We have to teach them how to dig a little deeper. We’re educating them for jobs that haven’t even been created yet. We’re teaching them how to identify a problem that may not exist yet. We’re teaching them to be critical thinkers.”
Faust is also passionate about curriculum quality. Her prior position was as principal of TCS’ Alternative Learning Center, where she simultaneously served as testing coordinator, English language learner coordinator and science coordinator for the school system. The coordinator roles took her into each school within the TCS school system, allowing her familiarity with the MES staff now under her charge, as well as with other schools.
From teachers to aides to bus drivers and every person employed at MES, Faust said she values the impact the faculty makes on students’ lives.
“I’d always heard about the community feel of Magnolia, and it does feel like a family,” she said. “We’re going to get even better and not stay stagnant because it’s our job to always improve. I want teachers teaching from the time we get the kids to the time the bell rings at the end of the day. I’m never going to apologize for high expectations.”
She also looks forward to continuing work with other schools within the TCS system.
“Joy Tyner is the principal at Cahaba [Elementary School] and Lisa Lothspeich is the principal at Paine [Elementary School]. I’ve had relationships with them previously, and I’m excited that we get to work together and collaborate. It’s not about a competition. We want all of our kids to get the very best here in Trussville.”