For The Tribune
By Shaun Szkolnik
ST. CLAIR COUNTY — St. Clair County High School is set to get a new principal on Jan. 1.
Brandon Taylor, originally from Trussville and a graduate from the city’s high school, will be transitioning into the position after having spent two and a half years as the assistant principal for St. Clair County High School. He has spent just under 13 years with the St. Clair County School System, spending part of that time teaching and coaching at Asvhille Middle School.
“I have always wanted to be a teacher,” Taylor said. “I had some excellent role models at Hewitt growing up who pushed me to excel. Lisa Self, Louise Wood and Glenda Canada, just to name a few, all helped instill a love of learning in me. It is a career I have enjoyed immensely.”
It is also a career that Taylor has thoroughly prepared himself for, in both his time on the job and in his education.
“I completed my undergraduate degree from UAB in 2005, my graduate degree from the University of Alabama in 2016, and I am currently working on my Educational Specialist degree at the University of Alabama, with plans to graduate in August,” Taylor said.
Taylor is looking forward to the challenges and the rewards of his new position, and wants to do the best he can for his school and the community.
“I am extremely humbled and excited,” Taylor said. “I have had the privilege of working with the exceedingly talented faculty and staff at SCCHS as assistant principal for the last two and a half years. They are a great group of dedicated educators. Additionally, under the leadership of Mike Howard, the superintendent-elect, we have made great strides towards reaching our goals. Our students have a drive to be second to none in academics and athletics and have no limit to what they can accomplish. You would be hard pressed to find a better group of young men and women anywhere. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, I hope to be able to lead the continued upward advance that this school and community has experienced in the last couple of years.”
For Taylor, education is more than just a career, it is a calling, and he has dedicated himself to making sure a high-quality education is available for every student.
“Education is always in a state of flux,” Taylor said. “Financial challenges, societal changes and government legislation all play their part in making public education a constantly changing landscape. However, one constant remains. Every child that enters that building in the morning must be given an equal opportunity to succeed. I am a huge believer in public school’s ability to meet the needs of the students and provide them with an opportunity to succeed in their chosen path in life.”