CLASS
ACTS
FIVE EDUCATORS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR SCHOOLS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIANA BROUGH
A former therapist takes an untraditional path to BECOMING PRINCIPAL
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chapelhillmagazine.com January/February 2018
J
OHN WILLIAMS BARELY GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL. HE WAS ALSO
recently named the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Principal of the Year. John calls himself a simple man, but his journey is anything but. As principal of Phoenix Academy High School in Chapel Hill, he’s been leading the students and staff since 2012. Phoenix Academy is the designated alternative school for the CHCCS district, serving 35 to 45 students. John’s educational background is unconventional, much like that of the students he serves. He describes his educational upbringing as a “mixture of bad experiences with teachers and being a kid doing stupid things” and he entered the military upon graduation. A standard military assessment revealed that he had a seventh-grade reading level and a fifth-grade math level. Despite this, John’s chief master sergeant encouraged him to go to college. “I was afraid I didn’t have the aptitude,” John says. “[But] I passed
Joh Willianm s P
R IN P H O E N C IP A L , my first class. I was shocked, and that’s when my life took off.” IX A C A DEMY H IG H SCHOO L John earned a master’s in counseling and worked as a licensed therapist for years until he was hired as a lateral entry teacher at the very high school from which he graduated. He earned his appropriate certifications and eventually, a master’s degree in school administration and the rest, as they say, is history. He came to the Triangle in 2008 to serve as assistant principal of Riverside High School in Durham. “I think all of this has prepared me for my role here [at Phoenix],” says John, who resides in Creedmoor with his wife. “A lot of educators are concerned with getting kids to graduate, but I am concerned with adding to a student’s life.” Reniya Degraffenreidt, a Phoenix Academy senior, says that she can easily open up to her principal, while junior Tara Angeletti says that John’s goal is “to get us through life.” “[Every day] I get to pour into the life of the children that I serve and the staff that I am honored to serve,” John says, choking up. “That is my reward.” –Latisha Catchatoorian