New Liberty principal takes unusual route

Liberty School's new principal Mike Novak is spending his time at the school these days, preparing for the year ahead. He says he is coming into a wonderful environment and can't wait for the school year to start.
(T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc)

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He has spent the last three years as assistant principal at Eakin Primary School and, before that, was an art teacher at the school.

He received his bachelor of science degree in secondary education with an art minor and has a master's in administration and supervision. In the future, he plans to return to school to pursue a doctorate.

Important pursuit

Education has always been very important to Novak and his family.

"I am the first person in my family to graduate from college," he said. "My parents made sure I went to private schools. My father really believed in education. My parents are just amazing people."

Novak attended Saint Joseph Academy for kindergarten through eighth grade and attended Father Ryan High School for grades nine through 12. After graduating from high school, he moved on to Middle Tennessee State University.

Change of plans

"I wanted to be an artist," he said, "so I was an art major."

He went to work as an apprentice for a glass blower.

"He is the reason I got into education," he said. "He told me I didn't need an art degree to be an artist and that I needed something else to do because as an artist, sometimes you eat steak but sometimes you eat nothing at all."

The glass blower recommended he go into education because he felt Novak had the right people skills to fit the bill.

"His wife was in education, so he thought it would be the right fit for me," he said. "I decided to pursue it but never intended to use it."

That changed when James Claybourne, the human resource manager for Bedford County Department of Education, came calling.

"He told me he had two job openings for art teachers, one at Eakin and one at the high school," he said. "I interviewed with Deborah Boyd, who was then principal at Eakin. She had an extensive art background."

New beginning

He was hired as the art teacher and promised a classroom, but by the time school started, conditions became overcrowded, an extra class was added, and he was downgraded to a cart.

"Mrs. Boyd told me I would have a classroom soon, that they were bringing in portable buildings," he said, "but she left halfway through the year, and Janice Womble came in."

He was worried she wouldn't support the arts as much as Mrs. Boyd, but those fears were unfounded.

"She was wonderful," he said. "She listened to my ideas and helped me implement them."

Teamwork

He said Eakin was a wonderful place, where the parents were behind him, and he was able to get the children involved.

"We started an art club for after school," he said. "I made sure the art curriculum supported the classroom curriculum."

In this fourth year as a teacher, the assistant principal's job was created. He applied, not thinking he would get the position, just to get his name out there.

"I wanted to let Ed Gray, the superintendent, know I was interested in an administrative position," he said. "He gave me a chance, and I did the best I could with it."

Learning experience

The job also required him to do some intervention work at Thomas Intermediate School, meaning he was working with children at risk for failing. "I tried to put a spin on what they were learning to help them," he said. "I made it fun for them and showed them a different way of doing things."

Novak said he could relate to the children at Thomas because he is dyslexic and had to be taught tips and tricks to help him through school.

"I learned more in my three years there than I did or could learn in any college course," he said. "Mr. Gray put me in a position where I could grow and prepped me to move into this position as Liberty's principal."

No repair needed

Novak says he's not at Liberty to fix things.

"There's nothing here to fix," he said, "and I'm definitely not here to break things. The support here is amazing."

One amazing person on staff, Novak says, is secretary Margaret Dalton.

"She is just wonderful," he said. "She gets things done before I even know I want them done. The existing team here is just wonderful. I could not have asked to walk into a better situation."

He admits he doesn't have much of a middle school or sports background but is willing to learn.

"I'm just going to come in and let the existing positive vision carry through," he said, "and continue any traditions they might have."

First-year plans

He says this first year is going to be a learning year for him, getting to know the staff and students.

"I'm going to try not to put my mark on it yet," he said. "I'm just going to take it all in and get the people behind me. There is no reason to fix anything because nothing is broken."

He wants to teach children to develop a love of learning.

"If I have taught them that, I have done my job," he said. "I learn something new everyday, and I love that. I want everyone around me to love it, too. When you stop learning is when you encounter the negative."

One of Novak's goal was to become principal, and he has now achieved it.

"I don't work for the money," he said. "I work for the fulfillment. I often tell people I have never worked a day in my life because I love what I do."