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Published Saturday, February 18, 2012 in Local

Special

Smokey Road Middle School Principal Laurie Barron, center, was named Georgia’s 2012 Middle School Principal of the Year during her school’s staff meeting on Wednesday. Melton Callahan of GASSP, left, made the announcement with the help of Barron’s husband, Daniel, second from left, and Coweta School Superintendent Steve Barker, right.

Smokey Road's Barron named Georgia Middle School Principal of Year

By Rebecca Leftwich

The Newnan Times-Herald

Dr. Laurie Barron was busy encouraging Smokey Road Middle School teachers and staff to continue doing their best when a group of her admirers interrupted to do the same for her.

"When my husband and kids walked in the door holding flowers, I knew something was up," said Barron, whose family was there with "an entourage" to surprise her by announcing she had been named the 2012 Georgia Middle School Principal of the Year.

Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals (GASSP) Executive Director Melton Callahan, Coweta County School Superintendent Steve Barker, Associate Superintendent Jerry Davis and Student Services Director Marc Guy joined Barron's husband, Daniel, and her three daughters at an otherwise routine staff meeting for the announcement.

"There are very few times in my life I have been speechless, but I couldn't say anything," Barron said. "To have the people you admire so much and look up to all looking at you, bestowing an honor on you...you think, 'How did this happen?' and then you look around at all your teachers and say, 'That's how it happened.'"

Barron, who has been at Smokey Road for eight years, said she was happy to accept the honor but does not consider it an individual award.

"The whole staff was there, and they're what made it happen," she said. "It's really a school award -- I just get to be the face of it. The greatest part of the honor is that people get to see what a great school Smokey Road is. You don't get to be a strong leader unless you lead strong people."

Assistant principals Aaron Corley and Wanda Pettaway were in on the surprise visit, surreptitiously stashing away a cake to celebrate the accomplishment with the gathered Smokey Road teachers and staff.

"They warned everyone that the two things I hate are not knowing what's going on and being interrupted," Barron said. "They were surprised I hadn't guessed anything."

As much as she appreciated all of the visitors, her husband's and daughters' presence during the announcement was extra-special for Barron.

"Having my family there was the best part," said Barron. "You have to separate the two so much as a working mom, but the whole staff and my family were able to be there, and that meant the world to me. My family knows how much I love what I do, and they allow me to put extra time into my career so I can continue to do the things I love. I want my family to be a part of work successes, because it really is an extension of my family at home. It really is a family here at Smokey Road, so when something like this happens, it happens for all of us. It just so happens on this one I get to be the one who carries the official award."

Family and school support are bolstered by Barker, the Board of Education and the school system's Central Office staff, Barron said.

"They give us the freedom to do what we want to be successful," Barron said. "When you have support system like that, it's easy to be successful. We have incredible accountability so we're all on same page, but we always have permission to try more, to take risks, to do whatever it takes to help our kids be successful. We know we're all in this together, so an honor like this represents a great school system and a great school, not a great individual."

Barron was selected by GASSP as the 2012 Principal of the Year from among finalists including Russell Brock of Loganville Middle School in Walton County and Chuck Lundy of Clifton Ridge Middle School in Jones County. GASSP's Principal of the Year program recognizes principals that excel in educational leadership, resolving complex problems, developing self and others and community service.

As GASSP's Middle School Principal of the Year, Barron is a candidate for National Middle School Principal of the Year. She will attend the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) annual conference in Tampa in March and a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in September to represent Georgia in NASSP's Middle School Principal of the Year competition.

"I am extremely honored and very blessed to have a great group behind me," Barron said. "It's certainly the high point of my career."

Barker also gave credit to the Smokey Road teachers and staff as he congratulated Barron.

"We're proud of her," Barker said at the gathering. "We are proud of you, because we know this is a group effort."

A 16-year educator, Barron taught English at Newnan High School for six years before becoming an assistant principal at Arnall Middle School and moving to the helm of Smokey Road. She earned her B.A. from the University of Georgia, her Master's in Administration and Supervision from the University of West Georgia, and her Specialist and Doctorate degrees in Educational Leadership from the University of Sarasota.

Barron currently serves on the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education Partnership Council and is an active member of the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals and the Georgia and National Association of Secondary School Principals. She recently served on the Governor's Education Advisory Board for Principals and received the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders Outstanding Middle Level Educator Award and the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals Exemplary Leadership Award.

National Board-certified, Barron was Newnan High School's Teacher of the Year in 1999 and NHS STAR Teacher in 2000 and 2001. Smokey Road Middle School is a state of Georgia Title I Distinguished School and a Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals Breakout Middle School. The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for six consecutive years.

Smokey Road is undeniably successful on paper, but Barron said it's the personal commitment to students that continues to move the school forward.

"We all work very hard here and it's a very demanding job, but we all believe in the kids," Barron said. "That's the bottom line, and that's why we're having good results. Everything else you can deal with as long as you believe in the kids."

Which is exactly what Barron was busy telling her teachers and staff when the two things she hate happened: Someone interrupted her and she didn't know what was going on. But this time, Barron said, she really didn't mind.

"It was just a testament to what we are trying to do at Smokey Road," she said. "It was reinforcement that we are in the right place and doing the right things, and that we should keep doing what we are doing."

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