Sunday, November 18, 2001
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Sunday, November 18, 2001 |
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FCHS's Ridgeway named Assistant Principal of Year for district
Each year, GASSP gives the honor to one assistant principal in each of its 14 districts throughout the state. District G represents Fayette, Henry, Clayton, Coweta, Carrollton City, Carroll, Butts, Harris, Heard, Lamar, Pike, Spalding, Troup, Upson and Meriwether counties. Nominees were required to submit essays describing the successes and accomplishments they have experienced in their leadership roles as assistant principals. Ridgeway says her greatest success at FCHS has been developing and maintaining a crisis intervention counselor position. About seven years ago, Ridgeway wrote a job description for the specialized position and took it to the Fayette County Board of Education for approval. After receiving approval, she took on the painstaking task of interviewing applicants to find the right person for the job. After the job was created and filled, Ridgeway has taken pride in the fact that she has been able to protect the original intent of the position. "My counselor does nothing but crisis intervention all day long. I'm able to facilitate what she does and provide her with time for support groups such as grief, self-esteem and anger management to meet the needs of 2,200 teenagers. Through this position we have been able to help students who were bulimic, suicidal or who were experiencing a crisis in their families," said Ridgeway. Since there is a counselor to focus on the emotional needs of students, other counselors have more time to devote to academic needs. Ridgeway says the outgrowth of the guidance office has made it very customer-oriented, enabling counselors to be more accessible to students at all times. Ridgeway has been with the Fayette County School System for eight years. Prior to being appointed to the assistant principal position at FCHS, she was a math teacher at Sandy Creek High School for one year. In her current position, Ridgeway supervises curriculum and instruction, the guidance department, registrar, advanced placement coordinator, discipline and some extracurricular activities. "I was very surprised to find out that I had been named Assistant Principal of the Year for my district. I am very proud to receive the honor but I am most proud to be associated with such a wonderful school and school system," said Ridgeway. Ridgeway says the part she likes most about her job is that she gets to make a difference in the big picture of school while still having the opportunity to help individual students. "The other morning I spent an hour talking to a young lady who was determined to drop out of school. After we talked, she changed her mind and decided to stay. Being able to make a positive difference in someone's life is what my job is all about," Ridgeway added. Ridgeway automatically qualifies to be considered for Assistant Principal of the Year for the state.
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