At the final Board of Education (BoE) meeting of the 2017-18 school year, Superintendent Luvelle Brown announced several administrative changes at IHS. Along with the departure of economics teacher Lauren Wright, now an associate principal at Boynton Middle School, former Associate Principals Keith Harrington and Crystal Sessoms moved on to become the principals of Enfield Elementary School and J.V. Forrestal Elementary School in Beacon Hill, NY, respectively.
To fill the administrative vacancies at IHS, ICSD promoted Carlan Gray, a former biology teacher and science department leader at IHS, to become one of two associate principals for returning high school students. Additionally, Corey Mitchell, a longtime teacher at the North Syracuse Central School District (NSCSD), joined the IHS administrative team as the associate principal for freshmen. I spoke with Mr. Mitchell about his decision to come to Ithaca, and about his goals for the coming year.
Vaynu Kadiyali ‘19: Before you came to Ithaca High School, you worked at the NSCSD. What was your job there?
Corey Mitchell: I worked at the Cicero-North Syracuse District for 19 years. For 18 of those years, I worked as a 6th grade teacher at Roxboro Road Middle School, which is in a suburb right outside of the city of Syracuse. I taught English and Social Studies, and I was very focused on building relationships with my students. I served on lots of committees, did a lot of work in developing curricula, and my passion during this time was connecting the community and the school.
VK: Why did you decide to come to Ithaca?
CM: Why not? This place is phenomenal! I applied online, had my interview, and got a tour of Ithaca, and the community blew me away with its focus on education on multiple levels, all the way from elementary school to higher education. Everyone here cares about education, and it’s a really progressive area where people are thinking for the future. I also studied up on some things that the district is doing under the leadership of Dr. Luvelle Brown, and I see lots of positive changes. Also, my wife fell in love with Ithaca. I think I can offer a lot to this school and district, and I feel like this is the perfect place to begin my administrative career.
VK: What does your job as AP consist of?
CM: My major role is to make sure that our 9th grade students are as ready as possible to handle the academic and social rigors of entering high school. This is a major transition year, and my background as a middle school teacher helps me in helping students. I am very much in tune with middle school students, and having taught sixth grade, a major transition year between the elementary and secondary education levels, I’m good at helping students cross those worlds and understand the things that they have to leave behind, fine-tune, and focus on to be successful. Working with young people and connecting with them has been a strength throughout my career, and helping 9th graders through their transition is something I’m very much looking forward to.
VK: Based off your initial impressions, what are some differences between the community and student body at IHS and at your previous district?
CM: The community here is much more diverse, and I really like that. I’ve seen that this town is education-oriented, progressive, laid-back during my time here so far.
VK: In your opinion, what are some strengths and admirable characteristics of IHS and its community? What, if any, steps do you think educators, administrators and students can take to improve the IHS community?
CM: I think our key strength is that we have a lot of adults who are committed to the success of young people. There are also so many opportunities for students, courses that they can take, and ways they can direct their energies and thoughts. It’s really almost like a junior college in a way with all of the offerings and opportunities. There’s so much here, and I want to help everyone tap into their potential through taking advantage of the opportunities they have access to. In this community, there’s great potential and a lot of great things going on, but I think it can be greater if we pull everyone together so we can access all of our strengths. I want to help teachers form better relationships with their students, and likewise, students with their teachers. I’m fascinated and impressed by the leadership team we have here, including our principal Mr. Trumble and our other two associate principals, Ms. Gray and Ms. Hardesty, as well as our three deans, and I think this structure will allow us to put our energy into helping young people achieve their dreams.
VK: What are some goals that you have for this year?
CM: To listen. That’s been my major focus over the last couple weeks since I started working here. I want to listen and hear what everyone has to say, and getting out into different communities, hearing from students, hearing from families and caregivers, business leaders, teachers and district administrators, is something I’m focusing on this year. I want to get everyone’s perspective and hear what their dreams are, what their fears are, and to try to use that, as well as the data I’ve been studying about this district and its students, to get as best an assessment about what truly makes up Ithaca. Ultimately I want to use that information to help me assess how I can help make it a better place.
VK: Most ICSD administrators, including yourself, are working during the summer. What does this work consist of?
CM: I’ve been busy! I’ve been studying the data, attending lots of meetings with my fellow administrators, learning about our program of studies, conducting staffing interviews, working on the master schedule, and most importantly, getting out into the community. Actually, this afternoon, I’m attending the Rashad Richardson event at GIAC with my family, and I hope to get around to Enfield, Southside, and other neighborhood communities to meet students and their families. I also want to connect with Cornell to learn more about what resources they offer. To me, getting out, meeting people, and introducing myself to students, like I did in June when I went to the two middle schools with Mr. Trumble and talked to incoming freshmen during their lunch periods, and even joked and talked a little smack with them, is important so that they know me as a friendly face who’s there to help them on their journey.
VK: Is there something you wish students knew about you?
CM: Number one, that I love helping young people. Number two, I have a great sense of humor and I have lots of jokes, so beware! I also love music, including hip-hop, rock, reggae, jazz, country. On top of that, I’m an avid sports fan, as you can see by the Pittsburgh Steelers poster on my wall and the logo on my cup, and I’m a huge Syracuse University basketball fan. I’ll have to start following some local teams now—go Big Red! I just love life and I love people. Stop by my office and say hello, follow me on Twitter (@9PrincMitchIHS), and never be afraid to approach me! I want to be in the halls and in classrooms so much that my secretary has to look for me to do paperwork, and I want to get to know what’s going on and to connect with the pulse of Ithaca High School.