Who is the new guy walking around campus in Mississippi State merch? Some students do not know who the new vice principal is at West Lauderdale. This would be Barry Richardson, who is doing an excellent job as the new assistant in charge of the high school.
Richardson says that he has really enjoyed getting to know the staff, community, and students. He states he also enjoys the “very unique environment” and “community-oriented” place that West Lauderdale has. He states, “As the assistant principal, I get to hear a lot of the things that people may not be comfortable going directly to the principal with first, run ideas by me, faculty, staff, and students.” He helps them to figure out if it is something that the principal should run.
Being second in charge is not always easy. Richardson mentions that the hardest part of the job is “making sure you can be very diplomatic with how you respond because your responses that you have to give may not necessarily be the way you prefer to say it, but it’s what’s best to be said at that time.”
Richardson grew up around the school business and attended three different high schools. He graduated from Neshoba Central. In addition, he attended three colleges. He graduated from Mississippi State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration. He went back to school for multiple graduate degrees, including education. He received one through Mississippi State and the last through Arkansas State.
Richardson’s goal at West Lauderdale is to “come on board and help continue [the] tradition and commitment to excellence, both academically and athletically, that has been established well before [he] got here, and [he hopes] we can leave it as good or better, whenever [his] time does come to an end.”
Richardson wants students to know that “the interactions that [he] probably had with [them] on an individual basis will only ever be you seeing the guy who doesn’t say anything in the hallway or in the cafeteria. For the very, very small amount of the population that may have to see [him] when they need help, or they have done something where [they] have to have a conversation, whatever happens, number one, it’s not personal, and number two, once [they] have fulfilled [their] requirement for disciplinary action with the school, it‘s over and don’t hold it over [their] head. People make mistakes.”
The assistant principal is doing an excellent job at West Lauderdale and works hard at what he does. Please give Mr. Richardson a shout when you see him in the halls!
