Blue Ridge Elementary Starts Year With New Principal By DeAnne Loper The 2005-2006 school year has gotten off to a great start in Ashe County and this year Blue Ridge Elementary students and staff welcomed Rick Powers as their new Principal. And while Powers is new to the position of principal, he has been a familiar face in the community for years. New Blue Ridge Elementary School Principal Rick Powers is having a great time with the students and staff. Photo by DeAnne Loper As a long-time resident originally from Ashe County, Powers developed a positive appreciation and interest in education during his formative years, but says the real turning point in his career choice came when he had the opportunity to work with a class of students with disabilities while he was a senior in high school. After graduating from Northwest Ashe High, he went on to attend Appalachian State University in Boone where he completed his undergraduate work in Elementary Education and then received his Masters Degree in Public School Administration. Powers began his career in education at Lansing Elementary where he taught second and third grades for five years. From there he went on to teach at Blue Ridge Elementary in the 1994-1995 school year when the Lansing and Riverview Elementary Schools combined to form one centrally located school. Then in 1999, Powers’ career took him from teacher to administrator when he joined the staff at Mountain View Elementary as Assistant Principal. Powers says he was always placed in a leadership role as a teacher and has served on several local, regional and state school improvement committees. He emphasized that over the years his supervisors were very supportive and encouraged him to pursue administration. In particular, he notes Richard Blackburn, former Principal at Lansing Elementary and Jerry Absher, former Principal at Blue Ridge Elementary, as influencing his career in many ways by always keeping him informed and by providing him with opportunities for leadership roles. Powers actually joined the Blue Ridge Elementary team last year when he served as Assistant Principal and says so far the transition has been a good one. “As an administrator I feel very fortunate,” said Powers. “I’ve been very well received by the staff, parents and students. Everyone has been wonderful.” Powers says his vision for the future of Blue Ridge Elementary is everyone working together as one learning community to support one another. “We try to have a culture of collaboration and support for each other,” noted Powers. “It’s a team and everyone on the team is important.” Powers says he also believes that the students appreciate a positive influence in their lives, saying, “They are very supportive of where we are trying to teach them and they work very hard. They’re just super good kids.” What Powers says he likes most about his new job as Principal is the people of the community; staff, students, and parents. “We all share the vision that we want the best for each individual child and everyone here is working very well together to achieve that.” Watch for an article on Mountain View Elementary’s new principal, Kim Barnes, in an upcoming edition in The Mountain Times.