Freshman AP Vincent Hawkins went from working at the bank in his three piece suit to strolling down the hallway in his suit with a big smile, waiving to every student he sees.

Hawkins is a new staff member who had a career change from banking to education and has been an assistant principal for two years at Georgetown High School. He came to our school after hearing about the unique and futuristic take on education.

“The way the school is built and structured really has an open and collaborative concept,” Hawkins said. “A lot of schools are trying to get that. I felt like this is the place where education is going. I wanted to be somewhere where school is gonna end up as far as collaboration and classrooms.”

Although Hawkins is the freshman AP, he has had the opportunity to work with students of all grade levels as well as parents. Being completely honest and genuine is important to him and to his job.

“I love the students here at this school,” Hawkins said. “There is a realness about our students. I love the diversity of our school. I like that our students speak their truth and they’re honest with their feelings and emotions. The conversations with students and their parents are important, just really being transparent and honest with them about my philosophy and expectations. I don’t think any students have felt blindsides thus far.”

After the first day of school, Hawkins immediately noted things he wanted to improve as far as participation. He hopes to increase participation in UIL Academics, which is a program that has competitions in multiple subject areas that other programs do not cover.  

“I really think the UIL Academics can be the missing puzzle piece for kids,” Hawkins said. “I think there is a difference between being passionate at something and being good at something. As a teenager, sometimes the things you don’t like are the things you’re really good at. UIL Academics can help our students realize they may not be passionate about math, but they’re really good at it. It covers every single subjects and our students are gifted in different areas.”

His goal is to work with staff members to help establish tradition for the first graduating class and his incoming freshman to experience during their high school careers.

“We have to create the tradition as fast as we can,” Hawkins said. “We want the seniors to leave here thinking high school was great. We don’t want to wait four more years for the freshman to think that. We kind of have to go faster than normal, and that’s really for the seniors. I don’t want them to leave and come back thinking they wished we had done that for them.”

Hawkins’ job entails helping to provide the best instruction for his students and helping his students for life both inside and outside of school.

“My only job is to prepare students for life outside of high school,” Hawkins said. “Helping students see where they’re going and helping them model the behaviors that will help them in the future.”