Dr. Bailey’s first year as one of Watauga High School’s assistant principals. Photo Credits: Jax Marsh
Jax Marsh
You’re part of a school superhero council. Your greatest hero has fallen, and you’re in need of a daring hero to take up the job. You search far and wide for the greatest hero on the planet. Hours go by, hours turn into days, days turn into months, months turn into years. Then one man, Dr. Bailey Coleman shows up at your doorstep.
Welcome to Watauga High School, an ever-changing environment powered by none other than the administration and our spotlight hero, Assistant Principal Dr. Bailey. Dr. Bailey contributes to the Watauga team in more ways than one. Dr. Bailey possesses a wide area of expertise, including leadership, problem-solving skills, and everything there is to know about volleyball.
“I have coached for 22 years. I actually started volleyball in the northeastern part of the state,” Dr. Bailey said. “We were the first volleyball team in ‘91.”
Dr. Bailey has dedicated his entire professional career to saving students' lives and fighting off the challenges within school systems— and not just through volleyball spikes. The experience of seeing a student again after having helped them is a feeling understood by a few people in this world, among them being Superman and Dr. Bailey.
“This is my 34th year and I'm not ready to retire yet. I have thousands of former students that are all over the state,” said Dr. Bailey. “It's incredibly rewarding to run into them and see how successful they are at what they’re doing.”
Dr. Bailey believes that only the best administration teams are the ones who use teamwork and open communication to their ultimate advantage.
“Even at a school the size of Watauga, I'm going to try to be able to call as many kids at this school by name that I can,” said Dr. Bailey. “Because I think connecting to people that you're working with is a very important thing to do.”
Back in college, Dr. Bailey had already been determined to fight against poor education systems for the greater good.
“For my dissertation, I interviewed students—former students—not just mine but across the state of North Carolina,” said Bailey. “They were 25 through 40 years of age and identified themselves as being pretty successful in what they were doing. And they did not come from money, they came from areas of low socioeconomic income.”
As a researcher, Bailey asked these students about their “grit and perseverance.” One specific area of interest was “what did we do in K-12 education that helped them, and what we did in K-12 education that hampered them. And that's what I want to do my work on.”
Ever since Dr. Bailey learned he could effect change through the school system he has committed to helping North Carolina schools fulfill their utmost potential.
“I'm a strong advocate of public education. I was in the very first class of North Carolina Teaching Fellows and wasn't sold on a lot of things,” said Dr. Bailey. “But I was supposed to teach for four years and I just fell in love with it. I haven't wanted to do anything different.”
Fast forward to today, and Dr. Bailey continues transforming students’ academic lives. Now, his work is happening much closer to home. So, if he's not annihilating the faults in our education system, thank Dr. Bailey for consistently fighting, bringing in the good, and serving as his role of real-life hero.
“As a school, students don't always get what they want. It's just part of life. And there's lessons to be learned there.” said Dr. Bailey. “But a school should not be detrimental to what a student is trying to build and do. There's always a way to navigate those appropriately. I like to find those bridges.”
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