Principal Michael Herbin announced his departure in May after serving as the top school leader for the past three years. The Eagle’s Eye sat down for an interview to talk about the moments he had over the years.
EE: What were some of your favorite moments as the Principal of Akins High School?
MH: In particular, I would say the first graduation because that was the first time as a high school principal. So it was like my first time getting to experience that as an administrator, and it was just so much fun and great just seeing the kids walk the stage for the first time. The second one was great too, but it was just kind of like the first one was awesome. You know, prom is always so much fun. It’s fun for the kids and the adults to be there and just to see everyone decked out and having a good time. You know, it’s just really nice. Those are a couple of really good memories. I will always remember just, kind of the hallways, and being out there talking to the kids and the cafeteria, and just being there talking to people. Also, just being there at all the different fine arts events and the sports events, the whole jist of it was an amazing experience. There’s a lot more, but those are some of my favorites.
EE: What were some of the ups and downs of your time at Akins?
MH: I named a lot of the positives, so there are some others, but I mean, there are so many different good things, right? I remember my first ACC graduation, or even just you know, the first group of kids that we had that were a part of it. That first year we had 40 kids that got associate’s degrees before they even had their highschool diploma, you know, and on top of that just all the kids earning certifications and just the CDE, and the just constant accomplishments that we have it’s just constantly someone is out winning and showing off who we are as a campus and that is just amazing. You know, there have been some challenges, right? My first year here as the principal for a week, and as you know, one of our students was shot. That was my first year here, and so you know, there have been several incidents like that, and those are always really tough, you know, obviously we’ve had situations occur off campus, close to campus, and things like that. Also, just making sure that as a community that we are rallying together and picking each other up when stuff like that happens, but like I said, it’s always a challenge any time you have a tragedy like that.
EE: What do you see as one of your accomplishments as the Principal?
MH: I mean, there’s, there’s, there’s several things that, you know, we have accomplished since, since, you know, three years that I’ve been here, and I say we each because it’s not, it’s not like my accomplishment, right? It’s just as a campus, things that we have accomplished, you know, I’ll go back to just, you know, that group of kids, we had 40 kids that got associate’s degrees that year. I mean, that was, that was huge, you know, I know that. I think next year we may be right back in, in there again, with maybe just as many, if not more. It’s a great, really big group from early college right there. I think, you know, our certifications have increased, you know, my first year after my first year here. I think our, you know, in terms of STAAR testing, like those, those scores went up across the board, in every area. So I think that was a great accomplishment, I think, in terms of, like, student management, too. I mean, you know, we still have, we’re not perfect, and we still have situations that happen on campus. But, you know, our our, I mean, our fights have decreased a ton in the three years that I’ve been here. I mean, there’s less, it’s less than half of the first year, you know, since the first year that I’ve been here. So I think that, I think that culturally, like, in terms of the campus culture, I think that’s big. And then just, just the hiring of great, great teachers, it’s always, you know, that’s, that’s the main thing, right? That’s how you make an impact. So that’s really how you make an impact, too. As you hire great staff, right? And so I think that we’ve been able to do that over the last few years. They have just continually hired great, great teachers. And so I’m proud of that, too.
EE: What advice would you give your successor?
MH: I think the advice is just to spend a lot of time getting to know everybody on campus. It’s a really big school, so there are a lot of kids, and there’s a lot of staff, right? And so just my advice would be, take time to meet with everybody on campus, everybody that works here, and, you know, just spend a couple of minutes and just ask them a couple of questions. Say, “Hey, if you were going to preserve one thing, like, what would be the thing you would most want to preserve on campus”, right? And then if you want to change one thing would be the one thing you wanted to change. And just talk to as many staff members as you can, that way, and kind of get their feedback and figure it out.
EE: What are the qualities you think the next principal of Akins should have?
MH: I think they need to be good communicators. I mean, it’s really important, right? Like I said, it’s a really big school, a lot of kids, a lot of parents, a lot of staff, and so just having, really having systematic communication all the time, and making sure that, you know, you think of ways to constantly communicate what’s happening to a lot of people, right?. If you have a really small group. It’s easy. Just because I’ve worked, I’ve been the principal of a small school, it’s not that hard, right? To do it. You can just tell, I mean, it’s like, it’s pretty simple. You just kind of communicate it out, and you can get everybody in a room quickly together, or whatever you need to do. It circulates faster, stuff like that. But like, in a really big school, you know that it has to be, you kind of have to have a different approach, because, you know, it’s just, there’s just so many pockets, and it becomes really hard. So I think that that would be, that would be something, I think the other one I would just say, just be a systems thinker, right? You have to kind of think systematically about things. You can’t be the type of person that’s just like, you’re just like, you know, you’re, you are the system, like, you’re just gonna go do it all. I can’t be like that, right? Again, just because of the size, too, right? So you just have to make sure that you have processes set up in place, in writing, for everybody to follow. And then the last one is just to build relationships, you know, the relationships with kids, parents, and the staff.
EE: What are your hopes for the future of Akins?
MH: I hope it continues, as you know, we’re a great campus. We’ve accomplished a lot of things, but you know, I’m all about a growth mindset, so for me, it’s always about continuing to try to improve, right? So take a look at what we’ve done, what we’ve done. Well, build on our strengths, right? The strengths of our community and our kids, and our resilience, our diversity, and all the things that are special about this campus. And build on those strengths, and make sure that you know that we continue to grow. Set high goals right. Don’t settle, set high goals and high expectations, and accomplish those things.
EE: What will you miss here at Akins?
MH: Cafeteria food number one, I actually will miss it. I will miss the taco bowls. All right, so you can put that in. I will miss the taco bowls. Roland knows immediately exactly how to make my taco bowl. All I gotta do is walk up there, and he makes it. I don’t have to say anything. So I’m gonna miss the taco bowls. I’m gonna, it’s, it’s gonna be people. So it’s relationships with people, right? I’m gonna miss the other assistant principals, right, the other administrators on campus. You know, it’s a really strong team. It’s a really fun team. I really like those guys. I love so many teachers and staff members here, right? So, just like that, I’m gonna miss the students. Always miss people, right? That’s the thing you miss about the building, is the people, right? So I’m gonna miss that. I’ll miss all those people. And then, you know, the students, of course, right? We have great kids. There are a lot of them. I’ve gotten to know some of them, but I haven’t gotten to know all of them as well. But you know, I’ll miss the kids too.
