As Hawkins stands at the R, with his coffee in hand, he smiles and interacts with students of all different races, ethnicities, grades and gender. Even though it is only his second year at this campus, his impact has already made a difference to the school.
“It’s been pretty surreal,” principal Vincent Hawkins said. “This campus is very unique. Lots of students are not just connected, but deeply connected to several programs. I’m realizing the importance of really expanding my ability to be involved in as many programs as I can and to get a deep understanding of all of our students.”
Hawkins believes trust is a key aspect of balancing his duties as principal. Previously as an AP for Glenn, he was in control of most things, so learning to trust his staff has been difficult for him.
“There’s no way I can do everything,” Hawkins said. “My balance is created by really building trust and letting go and knowing that people have good intentions and they’re gonna do a good job.”
Last year, the biggest challenge for Hawkins’ was to take things slow and not make any changes. Rouse is the fourth campus he’s been on, and LISD is the third district he’s been in.
“It’s easy to take my previous experience and go, ‘oh, we should do it this way,'” Hawkins said. “So last year it was really hard to self-reflect and go, ‘you have to wait, you have to get more information.’ There [were] some things that I wanted to do and wanted to move forward with, but I knew that the process changes [are] very slow and it involves a lot of different people and stakeholders to make change.”
Hawkins’ biggest achievement so far is the Raider Digest, which is essentially the principal message along with updates and news. He posts it every Friday, consistently highlighting student accolades.
“I have to make sure that each kid’s voice is heard no matter the size of their program,” Hawkins said. “It’s one of the funnest parts of my day getting to sit down and just really reflect on all the great things that students are doing.”
Hawkins receives advice from his mentor Paul Johnson, who was previously the principal at Vista Ridge for 17 years. The district has also been open to Hawkins asking for help and bouncing ideas, but also pushing him to make decisions.
“I love mentorships,” Hawkins said. “I love leaning on the ideas of other principles, I really lean on all the other high school principles. We have a high school collaborative and I do not shy away from asking them, ‘hey, what are some of the great things that you’re doing?'”
To receive feedback from students, Hawkins has started the principal committee, where he gets to hear feedback from students from different programs and grades.
“I’m really trying to expand the instructional capacity of the campus, get more people involved in instruction and then also what I want to do is just make sure that I continue to expand the voice of students as far as their learning experience on campus,” Hawkins said. “That’s one thing I think I’ve changed is really trying to tap into what students want and listen more and actually take action.”
To show his support for students, Hawkins attends every game, event and competition.
“It’s refreshing to see kids in their element in the things that they would do, if no one even asked them to do it because it really shows our kids’ talent and you see the great things that students do,” Hawkins said. “It’s just fun to watch, and it also gives me hope that we are moving in the right direction.”