New Assistant Principal Trina Poole accepted her position in July, and she is happy to be at Tallmadge High School.
“I hope that I’m able to bring to the table a lot of experience both in the classroom and as an administrator,” Poole said.
When entering college, Poole was unaware that her path would lead her to be an educator. She began her college education at the University of Akron as a Political Science major. In fact, Poole earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and her Master’s degree in American Politics.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my Political Science Degree around here. I got a job offer in Columbus to work with the Governor, but at the time it was either move to Columbus or get married,” Poole said.
After struggling to find a job close to home, Poole decided to take education courses at Kent State University (KSU) to become certified to teach political science and history for grades 7-12. After completing this Master’s program, she was hired at Stow-Munroe Falls High School (SMFHS). Poole taught at SMFHS for over 20 years, loved her job, and had no plans of leaving.
“I loved teaching what I was teaching and I loved being with kids every day,” Poole said.
SMFHS allowed Poole to join a group that would be granted reduced tuition at KSU to get a Master’s in Educational Administration to build leadership qualifications within the school system. When offered this opportunity, Poole was unsure if she wanted to go through the program. However, after discussions with her family, Poole decided she would take the classes just in case she wanted to go into administration later.
Poole began her career as an administrator at Findlay High School. Unfortunately, her time at Findlay was difficult due to the distance that the school was from her home. The desire to return to a job that was close to home was strong. Poole worked at Lakewood Middle School for a year, and after realizing that she preferred to work with high schoolers, she quickly began searching for another job at the high school level.
“I think I am most looking forward to learning the culture here, just really getting to know the staff and students, and making a positive impact on kids, which can be hard in this position because you’re enforcing a lot of rules,” Poole said.
Poole explains that she is most worried about enforcing the new cell phone policy. Poole realizes that students find it hard to disconnect from their phones, and she knows that her enforcement of the policy will likely cause a negative reaction from many students. However, Poole believes that time away from the phones benefits students, so she feels that it will be good for students to follow the cell phone policy, even if they do not realize it.
Poole also discusses her excitement to be working with Principal Mark Horner, she believes that they make a good team, and can make a big impact on the building in a positive way.
“I’m learning a lot from him. It’s awesome that he’s been in the building for so long. He knows how things have been, and he knows how they can be better,” Poole said.
Poole hopes that she gets the chance to interact with students on a level that is not disciplinary. She wants students to get to know her as a person, not just an assistant principal.
“In this position, you’re just a little bit farther away from kids, which makes it hard to build relationships,” Poole said.
Poole says that some of her goals for the year include helping Horner to move the vision of the building forward and to support teachers in any way that she can.
Poole said, “Above all else, I want to make sure that students are safe and comfortable, and enjoy their school experience.”
