Board upgrades status of Jordan leaders

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Two school principals have lost part of their titles.

No longer is Barbara Snider the “interim principal” at Mort-imer Jordan High School. Effective May 28, Snider is the full-fledged principal of the Morris high school.

On the same day, the Jefferson County Board of Education (BOE) also removed the “interim” from MJHS assistant principal Aaron Jones’ title.

“In the guidance department, we’re very happy with Mrs. Snider as principal. It’s nice to know we’re going to have some continuity,” said Sue Henry, the school’s counselor for juniors and seniors. “She’s a very fair person. She always listens to every side and tries her come to the best decision.”

Henry added that Snider is a “big-picture person” who always sticks to her decision when she knows she’s right. Henry said that Jones is an asset to Mortimer Jordan as well.

“He just really cares about the kids,” she said. “He’s really involved with individual kids who need it. He did a really good job the first year, but with his experience he’ll do even better next year.”

The BOE made Snider interim principal on Aug. 7, 2008, after accepting the resignation of former long-time principal Dr. Byron Campbell on July 24, 2008. Snider had served as assistant principal at the school for five years.

With more than 30 years in the field of education, Snider got her first teaching job straight out of college.

She taught English at Erwin High School for eight years and then taught physical education for 17 years. She also coached during her 25 years at Erwin, which recently earned her a spot in the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.

After leaving Erwin, Snider served as assistant principal at Hewitt Junior High School before moving to MJHS as assistant principal.

Her husband, Mark Snider, is a business teacher and head wrestling coach at Hewitt High School.

“All I can say is that my heart is really in this community and with our kids,” said Barbara Snider. “I would have never stayed in it this long if it wasn’t for the community and the kids.”

In the past year alone, according to Snider, test scores at Mortimer Jordan have increased in almost every area for the graduation exam and the Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing.

She attributes the higher scores to two things: Mortimer Jordan’s participation in the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and personalized class scheduling.

“Every student is more or less hand-scheduled according to their needs,” said Snider. “For some students, emphasis is placed on passing the graduation exam, and for others taking advanced placement courses is important.”

Snider has put in some long hours as principal, but she said it’s worth it.

“It’s kind of like you’re married to it,” she said. “I’m going to do it right. I’m going to work hard and hopefully continue to build on the tradition of excellence here at Mortimer Jordan.”

Jones said that he, too, wants to build upon that tradition.

Jones was named interim principal at MJHS on Aug. 7, 2008. He taught at Clay-Chalkville for eight years, then became assistant principal at Shades Valley and then Hewitt-Trussville Middle School before transferring to Mortimer Jordan.

“I’m just very excited about serving the students and those in the community,” said Jones. He said a very important aspect of his job is positive community relations and helping make students make effective decisions.

Both Snider and Jones said they have an open-door policy and welcome comments from the community.

“They can contact us at any time. We value their input,” said Jones. “We can’t do this alone. It’s always a blessing to have other voices.”