This school year, there are not only new students attending Hoggard but also new staff. I recently got the opportunity to sit down with our two new assistant principals, Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Livengood. I took this opportunity to ask questions and learn more about them. Below are the questions that were asked and their recorded answers. This interview was lightly edited for clarity.
Bold text represents questions while H and L represent Harrison and Livengood.
What’s your name and occupation?
H: My name is Kendra Harrison and I am an assistant principal at Hoggard.
L: My name is Lindsey Livengood and I am an assistant principal. I’m also a Spanish teacher, and I currently teach NCVPS Spanish, NCVPS meaning North Carolina Virtual Public Schools. A lot of students here take a class on NCVPS if it’s not offered here, or if it doesn’t fit in their schedule. I had about 2 or 3 Hoggard students in the summer that were in my Spanish class. I’m also a mom!
Where did you work before coming to Hoggard?
H: Well, I’ve always wanted to be where I was most needed and could make the most impact on kids' everyday lives. When this opportunity was afforded to me I thought it might be a perfect fit, and so far, I absolutely love it.
L: I have been at every school in the district. I taught at Ashley, and I was an assistant principal at New Hanover for a long time. I was there on the day of the shooting. Then I left the district and went to GLOW for a year, came back and was an assistant principal at Laney last year. I appreciate the experiences that I’ve gotten because every single school has been totally different. Granted I was just a teacher at Ashley, but every school has been different and I feel like I’ve got a good understanding of what the highschool experience is in this county. For this opportunity at Hoggard, I got a call on July 4th, I was in Charlotte and the opportunity to work with Chris Madden was just more than enticing. I’ve known him from afar just in the district and saw what he did at Williston. I was just really thrilled he would seek me out and that I would finally get a chance to be a part of something.
Have you always wanted to be an assistant principal? If not, what was your dream job?
H: [Laughs] When I was little I thought I was going to be a famous Broadway singer. And that’s what my undergraduate degree is in, vocal performance. So I sang opera for a long time, and I’ve always taught. I taught voice lessons, piano lessons, I mean my whole life since I was twelve years old. That aspect of teaching was very familiar to me. When I went to work on my masters I discovered I really loved teaching so I thought “I’m going to go ahead and get a masters degree in arts and teaching.” Which is what I did, and that’s how I got into education. I’ve always loved math and science, those were my main points of instruction when I was at Roland Grise. Then I moved into the AIG coordinator world, so that I could work with all the gifted students there. I became a huge advocate for that group and that became a huge part of my life. Being in that role opened my eyes to other opportunities to make a larger impact and that’s why I went into administration.
L: [Laughs] No, I don’t think anyone aspires to be an assistant principal. I really wanted to be an attorney, and I went to school to be an attorney. I'm from Kansas originally, I went to Kansas University. I minored in Spanish and sociology. I was going to go to law school, and then, straight out of college I got a teacher assistant position. I didn't even love it that much, but I started teaching middle school Spanish at that same school in the afternoons. And that’s what started me off, I fell in love with it. I kept teaching, and then I was like, “You know what? I want to try and affect not just the kids that are in my classroom voluntarily taking Spanish.” I wanted to affect a larger population of people and have some influence with the teachers. I don’t think they realize how impactful they are, and I don't think that society does a great job of showing them appreciation that the students can show them daily. As for my dream job, I think I’d still like to be involved in the law, anything with justice. I’m very justice driven. Maybe like a judge.
When did you realize you wanted to be in the education system?
H: I originally started as a music education major, but I loved performance so much that that was what I wanted to devote my time to. Like I said earlier, I’ve been teaching music, dance, piano, voice all those things since I was twelve. I was an apprentice instructor and then I got my own class and my own students. I mean it was great, it was just a part of who I was. I think when you step into something you know you’re supposed to do it completely changes the way you carry yourself, the way you see yourself, and the way you interact with other people. That’s when I really discovered “I think I might actually be able to make a really great impact in this way”.
L: I think just after that first job teaching Spanish, and watching those kids recognize like, “Yes this is hard, yes I can do it, and yes this is going to open some doors for me in the future.”
What advice do you have for students?
H: I think have grace with yourself and be patient with yourself. Understand that your opportunities are limitless, but a lot of what you’re going to be able to do is going to depend on you. Relationships are a huge part of just being a human being. Make sure that you understand the impact you have on the people around you and that your decisions don’t just affect you, they affect everyone in your life. Understand that we have really high expectations for you, but we do because we know you can meet them and we’re excited to help you do that.
L: You know it sounds so dumb but, treat people like people. It’s a small world and you never know who you’re going to need to ask for help. You never know who’s gonna be on the other side of things. For example, my parents are getting older and I want to go to their doctor’s appointments with them and I want that doctor to be competent. But I also don’t want that doctor to be a parent that I’ve angered. Right? So it’s just a matter of treating people like people and then you can wake up everyday and know, “Ok, I’m good, I’m a good human and I treat people the way they deserve to be treated.” And, hopefully I get treated the way I deserve to be treated. Hopefully, but that’s not why I do it. So my advice is just treat people like people. Now, I wasn’t super academic, I wasn’t valedictorian or anything. I was more in high school for the social aspect, so I don’t have any advice in that area, but just treat people like people and you will be okay.
Thank you to both Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Livengood for taking the time to answer these questions. As a student myself, I encourage you to get to know your teachers and other staff members of the school a little bit more! Take our assistant principals' advice and build relationships. Who knows - you might just have something in common!
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