Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Clawson

Viola Aderholt, Orli Trumbull (Freshmen)

Over the summer, a rather unexpected change occurred. Ms. Johnson and Ms. Jones left and were replaced by two new assistant principals. One of those two new assistant principals is Mr. Clawson. You have likely seen him stopping by your classrooms or popping in during lunch. The Eagle Times sat down with Mr. Clawson to discuss his responsibilities as assistant principal and his career before arriving at Obama.

Obama assistant principals answer questions from parents, listen to concerns from teachers and students, and interview new staff. They also keep track of students, make sure classes are covered, plan fire drills, and look at discipline and achievement data, all part of a job that is highly regulated by the district.

Despite this heavy amount of work, Mr. Clawson says that the best part of his day is “being in the classroom. Watching teachers teach, watching students learn.” He also enjoys monitoring lunches and being able to interact with the students.

While there are many fun and rewarding parts of being a vice principal there are also parts of the job that are much more difficult. Managing disciplinary issues is one example of this part of a vice principal’s job. Mr. Clawson finds other tasks more rewarding.

Mr. Clawson started his career off as an English teacher at Woodland Hills High School. He taught there for ten years before becoming a data coach and then the head of curriculum for the district. After working at Woodland Hills he decided to move to Pittsburgh Public Schools. Following three years as an assistant principal for Westinghouse, he transferred to Obama.

Being assigned to a new school is never easy. “I didn’t have any kind of expectations.” Said Mr. Clawson, “but it was a change for me.” He wants to tell the student body that he is “excited to be here,” and that his “door is always open to students.”