Vandygriff new principal at Morrison

Morrison Elementary has a new principal for the 2007-08 school year. Donna Vandygriff has been chosen to fill the position left open by the retirement of Ronnie Brown.

Vandygriff, a fifth-grade teacher at Morrison, said she is looking forward to taking on her new duties in July.

?I?m very excited, I?m very positive,? said Vandygriff. ?I think it?s going to be a great opportunity. I look forward to working with the students and the parents and the community. We have a wonderful community. The parents are always willing to help. The Ruritan is a big part of our school, they help us a lot. I?m just really excited.?

Vandygriff said she knew what she wanted to do in life at an early age, and one of the main influences in her choice was, not surprisingly, a teacher at Irving College.

?In fourth grade I had a wonderful teacher,? Vandygriff said. ?Her name was Mrs. Lorene Freeman. She just made learning and teaching fun and after that time I decided that?s what I wanted to do.?

Vandygriff got her bachelor?s degree in elementary education at Tennessee Tech and eventually obtained a master?s degree in instructional leadership there as well.

?My first job was at Viola school,? Vandygriff said. ?I worked there until it closed and then I came to Morrison. Those are the only two schools where I have taught.?

Though she loves classroom teaching, Vandygriff felt she was ready to take on an administrative role at this point in her career.

?I have been a classroom teacher now for 23 years,? Vandygriff said. ?But when I got my master?s in instructional leadership I realized even though I?ve always liked the administrative aspects of teaching, I?d never really been into administration. I had just seen it from a teacher?s point of view. But I began to think that one day I might want to do that, because I felt I might be able to make a difference.

?So when the position came open here at Morrison, I thought this must be the right thing to do.?

Vandygriff says her goals for the school are pretty straightforward.

?The main thing is to make it a student-friendly and parent-friendly place, a community place, and a safe place for our students,? Vandygriff said. ?A place where everyone feels safe and secure and can learn in a good atmosphere.?

Donna and her husband, Rick, have two sons, Josh who is in ninth grade at WCHS, and Braden, who is in sixth grade at Morrison. Donna says her older brothers, Harold B., Darrell and Herschel Hillis, have also played a big part in her success.

?They?ve always supported me in anything I do, especially after my parents passed away,? Vandygriff said. ?So I always like to plug my brothers.?