CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- He oozes a contagious enthusiasm. In the midst of what he calls a "war on education," his rallying rapport with students and passion for excellence fill the halls of Horace Mann Middle School with an almost tangible sense of achievement and pride.
Every morning, he welcomes students to "the best middle school in all the land."
Accomplishments during his 10-year tenure as principal include extensive building renovations, a comprehensive arts curriculum and a reading program that earned him an award from the West Virginia School Libraries Association.
An ardent Elk River native, Mickey Blackwell got a journalism degree from WVU then succumbed to the lure of fat paychecks from Federal Express. Finally, he followed his heart to the classroom. He got two master's degrees and taught English and journalism. Last year, he received a doctorate, a rarity in secondary education.
His Pied Piper personality outshines the scholarly credentials.
"I'M FROM up Elk River, Blue Creek. We are a very decisive and dedicated group, passionate about our community.
"We are very provincial up there. You are either from there or you're not. I met a lady who was explaining how people in the area had a hard time accepting her views. I asked how long she had lived there. She said 23 years. I said, 'That's the problem. You aren't from up here.'
"We are defined by the hills, the river and the road. You are from one side of the river or the other. You live on the river side of the road or the hill side.
"My dad worked 42 years at Columbia Gas. He was a community organizer. He was president of the senior center. They named the activity room after him. My mother worked 27 years as a school secretary.
"When I was growing up, we were told we could be anything we wanted. I think teaching came from being a curious person. Most good teachers are people who like school. I always enjoyed school, but I was frustrated by it.
"We had fantastic teachers at Kenton Elementary. At Elkview Junior, I was inspired by a few folks who were very concerned about us. Miss Reynolds, my social studies teacher, was fantastic.
"But in secondary schools, the basic style was to sit down, shut up, do the chapter in the book and answer questions on a test. I don't think that's a good way to teach.
"I was always inspired as much by the difficult situations I encountered as by the positive. The teachers who weren't very effective with me were my inspiration to be a good teacher.
"Our counselor met with my parents and said I was a good writer and speaker and read well and thought journalism might be a good career path.
"I wrote for the paper at Hoover and have a degree in journalism from WVU. I worked for the Athenaeum and freelanced. That degree taught me to write and speak and think in a linear fashion.
"When Federal Express came to Charleston, I went to work for them. It was just a job, but it was a great opportunity because you could move up. I hated every day of it. It's terrible, disheartening work that focuses on production.
"I started out driving a truck. I was making more money than anybody I knew. Every time I was ready to leave, there was always some new opportunity.
"They gave me a job working four days a week for the same money. Then they gave me a job up at the airport bringing in planes. But I was not willing to spend my life dedicated to a package someone else was interested in.
"So I went back to school. I'd always wanted be teacher. I went to West Virginia State. I went from being in charge of the airport for Federal Express to doing custodial work and washing trucks. They couldn't believe I would do something like that. I said I was building for a future. That's what we tell our kids. You can always reinvent yourself.
"I edited the newspaper at West Virginia State and got a little support from that. I graduated on a Saturday and started a long-term sub position that Monday at John Adams Junior High. My first full-time job was at Sissonville Junior High making $16,000 a year.
"Being an English teacher was a fantastic job. A former student works here. Another teaches at GW. So you see the influence you have. But I wanted to have a greater hand in what was going on. Stephen Covey calls that 'sphere of influence.' I wanted to expand my sphere of influence to be able to help more kids.
"So I went to the College of Graduate Studies for an administrative degree. They looked at my transcripts and said I could pick up a master's in curriculum studies very quickly.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- He oozes a contagious enthusiasm. In the midst of what he calls a "war on education," his rallying rapport with students and passion for excellence fill the halls of Horace Mann Middle School with an almost tangible sense of achievement and pride.
Every morning, he welcomes students to "the best middle school in all the land."
Accomplishments during his 10-year tenure as principal include extensive building renovations, a comprehensive arts curriculum and a reading program that earned him an award from the West Virginia School Libraries Association.
An ardent Elk River native, Mickey Blackwell got a journalism degree from WVU then succumbed to the lure of fat paychecks from Federal Express. Finally, he followed his heart to the classroom. He got two master's degrees and taught English and journalism. Last year, he received a doctorate, a rarity in secondary education.
His Pied Piper personality outshines the scholarly credentials.
"I'M FROM up Elk River, Blue Creek. We are a very decisive and dedicated group, passionate about our community.
"We are very provincial up there. You are either from there or you're not. I met a lady who was explaining how people in the area had a hard time accepting her views. I asked how long she had lived there. She said 23 years. I said, 'That's the problem. You aren't from up here.'
"We are defined by the hills, the river and the road. You are from one side of the river or the other. You live on the river side of the road or the hill side.
"My dad worked 42 years at Columbia Gas. He was a community organizer. He was president of the senior center. They named the activity room after him. My mother worked 27 years as a school secretary.
"When I was growing up, we were told we could be anything we wanted. I think teaching came from being a curious person. Most good teachers are people who like school. I always enjoyed school, but I was frustrated by it.
"We had fantastic teachers at Kenton Elementary. At Elkview Junior, I was inspired by a few folks who were very concerned about us. Miss Reynolds, my social studies teacher, was fantastic.
"But in secondary schools, the basic style was to sit down, shut up, do the chapter in the book and answer questions on a test. I don't think that's a good way to teach.
"I was always inspired as much by the difficult situations I encountered as by the positive. The teachers who weren't very effective with me were my inspiration to be a good teacher.
"Our counselor met with my parents and said I was a good writer and speaker and read well and thought journalism might be a good career path.
"I wrote for the paper at Hoover and have a degree in journalism from WVU. I worked for the Athenaeum and freelanced. That degree taught me to write and speak and think in a linear fashion.
"When Federal Express came to Charleston, I went to work for them. It was just a job, but it was a great opportunity because you could move up. I hated every day of it. It's terrible, disheartening work that focuses on production.
"I started out driving a truck. I was making more money than anybody I knew. Every time I was ready to leave, there was always some new opportunity.
"They gave me a job working four days a week for the same money. Then they gave me a job up at the airport bringing in planes. But I was not willing to spend my life dedicated to a package someone else was interested in.
"So I went back to school. I'd always wanted be teacher. I went to West Virginia State. I went from being in charge of the airport for Federal Express to doing custodial work and washing trucks. They couldn't believe I would do something like that. I said I was building for a future. That's what we tell our kids. You can always reinvent yourself.
"I edited the newspaper at West Virginia State and got a little support from that. I graduated on a Saturday and started a long-term sub position that Monday at John Adams Junior High. My first full-time job was at Sissonville Junior High making $16,000 a year.
"Being an English teacher was a fantastic job. A former student works here. Another teaches at GW. So you see the influence you have. But I wanted to have a greater hand in what was going on. Stephen Covey calls that 'sphere of influence.' I wanted to expand my sphere of influence to be able to help more kids.
"So I went to the College of Graduate Studies for an administrative degree. They looked at my transcripts and said I could pick up a master's in curriculum studies very quickly.
"In a couple of years, I ended up with a master's in curriculum studies and one in educational administration. I got a doctorate last year. I'm the only middle school principal with a doctorate now, and I'm really proud of that.
"I went to work for David Tidquist, principal at Sissonville Middle, for two and a half years. He loved kids more than anyone I know. You take positive traits from others.
"I got to be a long-term acting principal at Cabell Alternative School. They told me there would be 30 to 35 kids. In four weeks, they had added 77 kids. There were a lot of challenges, but it was rewarding to work with kids who needed a lot of help.
"I became assistant principal at Sissonville, and two-and-a-half years later, I was lucky enough to come here. Horace Mann was a perfect opportunity for me.
"I had been in every secondary building in the county except Horace Mann. Sissonville Middle was built in 1939. I would drive past here and say, 'Man, if I had a brand new building like Horace Mann, I could rule the world.'
"I walked in on the first day, and we had water running down the wall from a clogged drain. When I walked up to meet the faculty, I saw a plaque. Horace Mann Middle School was built in 1939, same as Sissonville. We had a lot of facility needs.
"Changes come because changes are needed. We've put about $1.5 million into the facility through a variety of grants. Kanawha County Schools recognized the problems.
"The first year I was here, we opened up the week before school started and had students and parents come and paint the hallway.
"We have an accelerated reader program here. Kids can't be successful if they can't read. The biggest problem is kids who have the ability to read but choose not to. That's what we target here.
"When I got here, there were three books checked out of this library. Our books were antiquated. There was a book on our shelf called 'Famous Negroes in America' written in 1957.
"In August, we had 427 books checked out. In September, we had 1,380. We've probably spent $30,000 in the last eight years on our library.
"We have a wonderful arts program. We have 60 kids in our strings orchestra and almost 100 in our chorus. We have probably 70 in our band. We have a full-time art teacher. The motto of the school is 'Promoting excellence in mind, body and spirit.' A lot of these things count toward spirit.
"To be an effective school, we have to make sure everybody has a place, something they can do.
"Our school is extremely diverse. That's the thing we are proudest of, how well our kids interact. We have kids who go to Greece for spring break and kids who have never been to the library unless the school takes them. Almost 50 percent are low socioeconomic-level students. That's where our challenge lies - to make sure every kid has an opportunity to be successful.
"I greet every kid every day and so does the vice principal. We shake hands, do fist and elbow bumps and try to say hello by their name. I like to start the day making everyone feel welcome.
"I have 480 kids and 50 staff members. The chance of somebody having a bad day is huge. It's my job to make sure everybody has a good day and that everything works positively.
"It's an honorable life, to be worried about the next generation and helping people who need help. The school system does so much good. We feed kids twice a day. If a kid doesn't have glasses, there is a nurse looking at him today. If you have an injury, we fix it. If you are crying, we hug you.
"Any time you are contributing positively to all these kids growing up every day, that's an honorable thing.
"It seems almost like there's a war on education right now. Newsweek had that article 'We Must Fire Bad Teachers,' and there's that documentary, 'Waiting for Superman.' Those things focus on the negative. If they came here, they would focus on the positive."
Reach Sandy Wells at san...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5173.
