​Smith eager to begin first year as Grain Valley High School principal

by Michael Smith
 

When Drew Smith was in high school and in college, being a high school principal wasn’t on his mind.

When he was hired as a social studies and psychology teacher at Grain Valley High School, he had already achieved his long-time goal of being an educator.

Little did he know that he was going to take two steps further in his career.

After nine years of teaching, he was an assistant principal for seven years. Now he is making one more leap forward this school year. Smith is stepping into the role of principal following the retirement of Jeremy Plowman.

After his ninth year of teaching, Smith wanted to explore becoming an administrator. He said he wanted to help other teachers do what he’s doing in the classroom.

“I love teaching,” Smith said. “If for whatever reason this didn’t work out, I could go back and be a teacher. I love the interactions with the kids and I love the subjects. It was a natural progression. I learned how to be a great teacher in my mind.”

“I wanted to help as many people as possible. I wanted to help other teachers become better teachers to help the students. It just natural the way it went. If you would have asked me out of college if I wanted to be a principal, I would have said, ‘Heck no.’ I just want to be a teacher.”

Smith said he wants to follow the footsteps of Plowman and former principal and assistant superintendent Beth Mulvey and improve the level of education of the students like his predecessors.

“We already have a foundation built here with Beth and Jeremy being around for a long time,” Smith said. “Jeremy’s first year was my first year as a teacher here. We worked together here for 16 years.”

“I am really excited.  There are a lot of new things we want to do and we want to keep the tradition that we already have.”

He said he respected and admired Plowman, who helped set up Smith for success in eventually obtaining the high school principal position.

“(Plowman) wanted me to have experience in all different areas (of administration),” Smith said. “Over those seven years, my roles flip flopped. I have been in charge of activities, testing and all of that. I have had a role in every aspect of administration for at least one or two years each.”

Smith received a bachelor degree and masters degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a specialist degree from the University of Central Missouri and a doctorate from William Woods University.

Smith said he has loved his time at Grain Valley High School and spoke highly of the tight-knit community the city has as a whole.

Smith’s goals include improving attendance and making the high school environment a place that students want to come to. He also wants to improve the academic excellence to an even higher level than it has been in recent years.

He added that Grain Valley is his home for the foreseeable feature.
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“We are all family here,” Smith said. “If I didn’t get the head job, I would have been fine. We are definitely a family-oriented school.”

Drew Smith has taken over as the Grain Valley High School principal for the 2023-24 school year. Photo credit: Michael Smith