MPCHS welcomes new ass't principal

by Andy Dygert

News Reporter

Paul Beatty, the new assistant principal at Mt. Pleasant Community High School, may be leaving the classroom, but that doesn't mean he's going to stop teaching.

"It's a different dimension of education," Beatty said. "The contact I'll have with kids is of a different nature.

"I'll still be in the teaching mode, but I'll be teaching life skills rather than teaching subjects in the classroom."

Beatty was hired in June, and started his full-time job this week as assistant principal. He has been doing some work, part-time, at the school during the summer, but was commuting from the Eldridge area, where his family lives.

The job became available after principal John Henriksen took the superintendent's job at Central Lee, and Todd Liechty, former assistant principal, was promoted to principal of the school.

Beatty was most recently a teacher at North Scott High School in Eldridge, where he taught for 12 years. He was a social studies teacher who focused on American government and economics.

Beatty said that he has an interest in economics, especially, and the business side of social studies, which may have led to his interest in the administration part of the education system.

"Economics has kind of drawn me as a love," Beatty said. "It has grown to be an intriguing area. I just grew into it I guess."

Then he joked, "It's probably pretty rare for people to love economics, I guess."

Coming into the Mt. Pleasant school system was seen as an opportunity by Beatty, who said the school system is well known in the state for having quality education.

You can read the entire story in our Aug. 3 issue