Friends and Neighbors: Jones looking for Banner year as new principal

Charles Jones is looking for a banner year in his new position, and is happy to be closer to home.

The veteran educator officially started his job as principal at Banner County School on Aug. 3.

"This is kind of like home for me and my family," Jones said. "We're originally from Pine Bluffs, Wyo. This is like home. We're really excited about being here and for the opportunity to be here."

Jones comes to Banner County from Maywood, where he spent seven years as a teacher and coach. Prior to that, he taught in Colorado for 14 years. Jones and his wife, Marlene, both graduated from Pine Bluffs High School. He went on to attend Laramie County Community College and then graduated with a bachelors degree from Chadron State College in 1994. He also holds a masters degree from CSC.

"This will be my first time being a principal," Jones said. "I got to the point where I needed to go in and further my education and I really wanted to do something in administration, whether it be a principal or an activities director or whatever. Principal is a chance for you to still work with kids, work with people and still lead a school, too, where it can be the best school that it can be."

Jones taught physical education for students in elementary school into high school. He also coached football, basketball and track and field.

The new principal has been somewhat familiar with Banner County for years, both playing against and coaching against the school's athletic teams.

"I used to come over here and play (against Banner County when I was in high school)," he said. "We've played them the last couple years in football."

Jones is also no stranger to the small school environment.

"I've been in small schools for a lot of my career. Out of 21 years, I think 15 of them have been in schools this size," he said. "There's just something about schools that are this size that are like a family. The staff is close and you get a good rapport with the students. Just being able to talk with them versus a larger school where you have 700, 800 kids, it's hard to get to every kid. A school our size, you can get to every kid from pre-k through 12 and get to know them a little bit and know their parents. It's a better experience."

He also thinks that small school experience will pay off in his transition from teaching to administration.

"I think it will be really beneficial because there's differences in schools," he said. "...You know, what works for us here doesn't work for say a Scottsbluff or a Gering. Likewise, what they do may not necessarily work for us. So you have to kind of tailor it to your school and your situation and your students to make them excel."

Jones said his goals for the upcoming school year, which begins Monday, are to see how the school runs and what everyone can do to improve the students' education.

He also thinks the transition from teaching to administration as an all-school principal will be easier since he taught both elementary and high school students.

"It won't be that bad of a transition for me, I think, because I've taught K-12 PE for a long time, so I had the whole dynamic within my gym - teaching the preschoolers and the kindergartners and then the high school kids in PE classes as well," he said. "It just goes with anything else, you just treat younger kids differently than you do older kids. Younger kids need a little more of the high fives and stuff like that and older kids, you can put some more responsibility on them to take control of their education. That should not be a problem, but being a first-year principal there's going to be a lot of things that you'll run into that'll be a big learning curve. I'm excited to get started with the challenge that will come with it."

Jones said he will miss the classroom, and will definitely have to get out to the classroom to observe and to get to know the students. He said that change will be his biggest challenge in the coming year.

"One of the biggest challenges will be the time management part of it, being able to get out to the classrooms and see what's going on within the school, yet still take care of the work that needs to be done as a principal as well - all the paperwork and stuff to do with that," he said.

Jones and his wife have two school-aged children - Mycala, 11, and Riley, 8. They also have three grown children and two grandchildren. The new principal said they are excited to be closer to home and to be able to visit with family and friends.

"It was a good move for us," he said. "It gets us closer to home where we can see some family and see some friends that we haven't seen in a while. We love the community here so far. I've been thrilled with the school in the little dealings so far that I've had in the past month."

Above all, Jones is happy to be in Harrisburg and is ready to get started.

"I'm just excited to be here," he said. "I'm excited to work with the school and the community to make our place the best that it can be."