Scott Mullins To Take Over As High School Principal Next Year
Brock Bailey Looks Forward To Farming In Retirement
All it takes is a few minutes of watching Scott Mullins engaging with students to see how passionate he is about education and next year he will step into the position of high school principal.
For the past three years Mullins has served as assistant high school principal under Brock Bailey. Mullins pointed out that in that time, Bailey has put together an amazing staff that he looks forward to working with in this new capacity.
“A few years ago we needed stability and I think Brock and I fit that need perfectly,” he explained. “We have an amazing staff right now.”
Mullins noted he is working on outlining goals for the upcoming school years.
“We really want to keep working at test scores and keep improving the EOC (end-of-course) exams and the ACTs. To continue receiving accreditation with distinction you have to be constantly progressing so that will be one of our most important goals.”
He added that maintaining high-caliber staff members will also be a goal along with filling any vacancies with the right people for the job.
Mullins spent his first years in education in the classroom as a government/sociology teacher.
“I still like to pop into the classroom from time to time and see what they’re doing,” he added.
Mullins taught government/sociology at Bowling Green High School from the time he graduated college in 1994 through 2008. He also served as the high school football coach from 2001 until 2004 and the assistant girl’s basketball coach from 1996 until 2001.
Mullins moved to the Troy School District in 2008 where he taught social studies and served as interim assistant principal of both the middle school and high school.
He said he was certain moving into administration was the right thing to do when he returned to Bowling Green to serve as assistant high school principal three years ago.
“I still miss it, of course. It’s an important role in the education process but I’ll miss the classroom. No one wants to be the fire chief, you want to be out fighting fires but it’s an important job that has to be done,” Mullins remarked.
Mullins noted that he will also miss working with Bailey.
“He was the right guy at the right time and the right place,” Mullins noted. “There had been five different administrative groups in eight years when he took over. There was a lot of division then and he changed all that. And the greatest asset is he hired great people.”
The zeal Mullins shows in his work is pretty evident as he rallies the student section at ball games and his office is cluttered with photos and drawings, one in particular is a pencil sketch of Mullins with his glasses parked on top of his head where they can so often be found.
Mullins said he won’t give up the rallying cheers at games.
“Those are fun things. It’s important to have fun. We need fun in our lives.”
Mullins will be taking over just as the current superintendent steps down as well. J.W. Brandt will be leaving the district at the end of the school year. He will be replaced by Dr. Matt Frederickson.
In his remarks about Mullins, Dr. Frederickson pointed out his extensive background as a teacher, coach and leader within the area schools. He further noted that Mullins possesses an understanding of the local community and effective instructional practices.
Mullins said he believes he will work well with Dr. Frederickson and is familiar with the charter school from which he’ll be coming to Bowling Green.
“He’s a curriculum guy and his focus is on test scores and making every student ready for college, tech school or the work force.”
Mullins graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from Truman State University where he also received his master’s degree in education. He earned an educational specialist degree from William Woods University.
