For Immediate Release Contact: Leslie Birdow 682-867-7342 [email protected]

BOARD OF TRUSTEES NAMES ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug. 16, 2018 – The AISD Board of Trustees today announces assistant principals for the AISD Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center, Martin and Seguin high schools, Carter and Workman junior highs, and Sherrod and Starrett elementaries.

Jimmy Callender has been named an assistant principal at the Dipert Career and Technical Center. Callender has been an assistant principal at Ousley Junior High since 2016. Prior to that, he was a PE teacher, coach and AVID coordinator at Bowie High School from 2010 to 2016 and a PE teacher and coach at Barnett Junior High from 2004 to 2010. Callender was a world history and health teacher and coach at Jackson High School in Camden, Miss., from 2001 to 2003, a world history teacher and coach at Lee Junior High in Monroe, La., from 2000 to 2001, and a PE teacher and coach at Caldwell Parish High School in Columbia, La., from 1999 to 2000. Callender was in the Louisiana National Guard from 1993 to 2006. He has a bachelor’s from Northeast Louisiana University and a master’s from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Steve Smith has been named an assistant principal at Martin High School. Smith has been an assistant principal at Hughes Middle School in the Burleson ISD for the past year. Prior to that, he was a math teacher and coach at Aledo High School in the Aledo ISD from 2010 to 2017, at Granbury High School in the Granbury ISD from 2006 to 2010, at Bowie High School in the Arlington ISD from 2002 to 2006, at Keene High School in the Keene ISD from 1999 to 2002, and at Richland High School in the Birdville ISD from 1997 to 1999. Smith was an assistant men’s basketball coach and director of on-campus recruiting at TCU from 1994 to 1996. He was also a math teacher and coach at Cedar Hill High School in the Cedar Hill ISD in 1994 and a biology and health teacher and coach at Lincoln High School in the Dallas ISD from 1993 to 1994. Smith has a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Christopher Stroud has been named an assistant principal at Seguin High School. Stroud has been the K-12 district sciences/STEM/CTE curriculum coordinator at the Advantage Academy in Duncanville since 2017. Prior to that, he was a physics teacher at Mansfield High School in the Mansfield ISD from 2013 to 2017. Stroud was a biology, integrated physics and chemistry teacher at Nimitz High School in the Irving ISD from 2008 to 2013. He has a bachelor’s from Texas Woman’s University and a master’s from Western Governors University Texas.

Albert Becerra and Justin Kettler have been named assistant principals at Carter Junior High.

Becerra has been a mariachi music teacher with the Grand Prairie ISD since 2011. He worked at the Young Men’s/Young Women’s Leadership Academies from 2016 to 2018, Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy from 2013 to 2016, Jackson Middle School and the Young Men’s Leadership Academy from 2012 to 2013, and Kennedy and Reagan middle schools from 2011 to 2012. Becerra has a bachelor’s from Arizona State University and a master’s from the University of North Texas.

Kettler has been an instructional coach at Workman Junior High since 2015. Prior to that, he was a U.S. history teacher and coach at Hutcheson Junior High from 2010 to 2014. Kettler worked in the private sector as a financial advisor and personal banker from 2006 to 2010. He has a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Arlington and a master’s from Lamar University.

Ericha Prox has been named an assistant principal at Workman Junior High. Prox has been an assistant principal at Rankin Elementary since 2015. Prior to that, she was an instructional coach at Nichols Junior High from 2013 to 2015. Prox worked in the Cedar Hill ISD as a lead teacher and academic specialist at Permenter Intermediate (2010-2013); a sixth-grade math, science and English teacher at Wilson Intermediate (2006-2010); and a fifth-grade math and science teacher at West Intermediate (2003-2006). Prox worked from 1998 to 2002 in the private sector, and she was the Communities in Schools campus manager at Skyline High School in the Dallas ISD from 1995 to 1998. Prox has a bachelor’s from Baylor University and a master’s from Texas A&M University – Commerce.

Cathye Smith has been named an assistant principal at Sherrod Elementary. Smith has worked in the Dallas ISD since 2006, most recently as an early learning specialist since 2017. Smith was also an instructional coach at Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary (2015-2017), a fourth-grade English/language arts teacher at Wilmer-Hutchins (2014-2015), a kindergarten teacher at Wilmer- Hutchins (2011-2014), a kindergarten teacher at Lee Elementary (2009-2011) and a first-grade teacher at Turner Elementary (2006-2009). Smith was a prekindergarten and first-grade teacher at AW Brown Fellowship/Leadership Academy in Dallas from 2001 to 2006. She has a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Tyler and a master’s from Concordia University.

Tamara Harrell has been named an assistant principal at Starrett Elementary. Harrell has been a special education teacher at Speer Elementary since 2015. Prior to that, she was a teacher for students at Millwood Hospital from 2009 to 2015. Harrell worked as a discharge coordinator at Millwood from 2007 to 2009 and as a substitute teacher in the AISD in 2007. Harrell was a testing technician at Angelina College in Lufkin from 2003 to 2004. She has a bachelor’s from Texas A&M University and a master’s from the University of Texas at Arlington.

###