“Shocked,” is the way Dr. Tiffany Smith describes the feeling of being named 2023 Assistant Principal of the Year for Pender County. When the HR director called her name, she thought it was to recognize her as a nominee, not as the winner. “He called my name?” “I won?” she asked another principal sitting next to her during the celebration. It was true.
An educator for 26 years, Dr. Smith is the assistant principal at C.F. Pope Elementary, a pre K-5 school in eastern North Carolina with an enrollment of more than 500 students. She began her public education journey in 1997 and has spent her entire career in Pender County. She taught first and second grade for eight years, spent two years in Human Resources working with educator recruitment and retention, and has been an administrator for 16 years. “It’s been a very long but short road,” she said with a laugh. “You look back and say to yourself, ‘Wow, time has gone by so fast’ but then when you’re in the midst of the days you’re like, ‘time is moving so slow.’”
Dr. Smith has lived in Pender County since she was a student in sixth grade, attending one of the local elementary schools that years later she would become assistant principal. It was as a student she developed a love for the profession. “Miss Michelle, my kindergarten teacher, inspired me to be a teacher. Every day I would come home from school and talk about Miss Michelle to my mom. And it was the first principal I worked for as a teacher who set the tone for me to become a school administrator.”
When asked to share the best part of her job, Dr. Smith responded, “Being able to see the faces of my students and staff. They are the reason I get up and come to school each day. I enjoy being able to greet everyone each morning and being one of the first smiling faces they see. Just helping them have a positive start is the best thing!
“Being a school administrator is demanding, critical and rewarding. It’s important we all [administrators] remember we matter in the lives of students and our purpose is the success of students and staff. We – students, staff and families – have to work together to make that happen. As members of NCAE/NEA, which I joined as a new educator 26 years ago, we are allowed to do this work and are provided the resources to do so. It’s one of the reasons I am a long-standing member of this organization which represents and supports education personnel in EVERY category.”
As a member, Dr. Smith is currently president of the Principals/Administrators Division and has served as an association rep in each building she has worked.
