After working nine years at Lewisville High School Killough campus teaching theater, astronomy, and physics and being part of the administration, assistant principal Casey Edwards left that familiar environment and moved to Hebron this school year.
Edwards said she plans to be part of school administration until she retires, but education was not her first choice. She first went to college and got her degree in theater, but after having a job in casting, she felt she would work better in education.
“When my college mentor kind of nudged me in [this] direction, a lot of light bulbs went off for me,” Edwards said. “When I was in casting, I immediately knew this [wasn’t] right, and then in education, I immediately knew this [was] my spot.”
Growing up, Edwards struggled socioeconomically, causing her to have compassion for students who share a similar background. She said being part of the solution for these students is important to her, which made Hebron a perfect fit.
“I [attended] a school that was kind of homogenous in population, so I felt like an outlier,” Edwards said. “Working at a school that has an awareness that people might be flying under the radar, because those groups are bigger, is exciting to me.”
Her previous school, Lewisville High School Killough, has about half the number of students and administrators compared to Hebron. This results in Edwards overseeing a similar amount of students, but significantly more teachers.
“There’s more staff [here,] so I’m having to really make an effort to try and stay connected to all of the adults in the building,” Edwards said. “Sometimes it can have a big city feel and I’m used to that small town vibe.”
Along with overseeing students and faculty, Edwards is in charge of the building’s maintenance. She said that although this allows her to make more connections with teachers, it gives her a busier workday. Principal Amy Boughton said she believes Edwards has been handling the workload well.
“There’s only so many hours in a day, and you’ve [got to] handle all the different aspects that are coming at you in a day’s time,” Boughton said. “[It] takes a quality person to be able to do that.”
Though the busy schedule of an AP can be difficult at a new school, what Edwards said she enjoys most about Hebron is the diversity in the students and staff. Her strive to bring all students to light no matter their background encourages this.
“Hebron has a beautiful blend of diversity that you can’t really find anywhere else,” Edwards said. “Walking the halls and being able to learn from not just my colleagues but students, parents and families is exciting for me.”