FVHS has a new assistant principal to oversee our school as an administrator: Michael Riddick. With this new position, he plans to help reshape and bring us to be an A+ school.
Before this, he was an assistant principal at other schools around North Carolina, including Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Speas Elementary School. He was also a middle school ELA teacher and coach according to his biography posted on the Jefferson Middle School website.
“I got a lot of feedback from students and teachers saying they felt like I left an impact in a positive way. The community, as well, voiced a lot of the same feelings,” said Riddick.
Riddick stresses the importance of a quality education for each individual student.
“The hardest part is making sure every student is taken care of. With a school this big, kids can get lost and may not speak out if they need help. The toughest part is making sure every student gets impacted positively. Being more intentional about checking in with teachers and working with them to help reach the students, so it’s more like a team effort, is how I envision it,” said Riddick.
As a former coach, Riddick is very interested in the sports aspect of the school.
“High school sports are huge. I came from middle school and elementary where they didn’t have sports. The middle school had sports, but it wasn’t as serious. I love sports, so this year and next year my intention is to really be on that side of the school. As I learn the players, I want to personally congratulate and celebrate them. I love our sports culture, but also I want students to be student athletes. They’re students first and then they’re athletes. I don’t see why a student couldn’t do it all, be great in their sport and be great in the classroom. That’s what I would love to see,” said Riddick.
Taking a break from the professional side, regarding Riddick’s personal hobbies he said, “I haven’t benched in a minute but I left off about 225, so it’s not a whole lot but that’s where I’m at. I like NBA2K, that’s my favorite, but my son likes UFC, so we play that on the PS5 a lot. I like a lot of non-fiction books. I’ve read biographies on Malcolm X, Alexander Hamilton’s before the play came out, and Benjamin Franklin’s autobio because I like to learn about people I respect. Their bios are interesting because you learn a lot, like Dale Carnegie’s… I like money, so I read his biography.”
Now when it comes to the overall school condition, Riddick said, “For me, I always look at the school report card grade. It was a B last time I checked, so I don’t see why it couldn’t be an A school because, from what I can tell, we already have all the ingredients. I’m thinking a lot of it comes from test performances, and I hate that. But it’s also our students growing academically and getting better, which is fine, but they can still boost their grade by showing growth. You don’t necessarily have to get an A in the class, but if you go from a D to a C, that’s success to me. You’re heading on the right track. Not every kid is going to be an A student, and that is fine, but can they get better?”
Riddick’s focus seems to lie in the importance of the individual students and how they shape their high-school career through evolving in their experience, whether it be becoming an athlete in sports or an overachiever in academics. With this, he plans to help restructure the culture and livelihood of the school to bring forth the best in every one, student and staff alike.
