Byron Center — Troy Reedy is the new West Middle School assistant principal. SNN gets to know him in this edition of Meet Your Administrators.
Other positions held in education:
- Middle- and high-school social studies teacher, Lawton Community Schools
- Seventh-grade English and eighth-grade U.S. history teacher, East Rockford Middle School
- Dean of students and athletic director, Vestaburg Middle/High School
What about jobs outside of education? Reedy worked as an umpire for baseball and softball leagues starting when he was 14 until he was 28. In college, he served as the umpire in chief for a Little League district, which was a “great summer job.”
And then there’s this: “I had the, shall we say, pleasure of working at Chuck E. Cheese in high school. I worked in the kitchen, but can still answer the two questions everybody asks: Yes, the ball pit is disgusting, and yes, I did have to get in the mouse suit.”
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in secondary education, Grand Valley State University
- Master’s degree in educational leadership, Western Michigan University
Family: On September 16, Reedy married his wife, Allison. The two also are parents to a black lab named Pepper.
“Allison and I spend a lot of time with family as well. My family has a cottage up north and her family lives on a lake near Kalamazoo, so we spend a lot of time at one place or the other doing water sports, playing yard games, or just relaxing.”
Hobbies/interests: Reedy is “big into sports” as a fan of professional sports and all the Detroit sports teams. He also enjoys playing golf and hockey in his spare time.
“I played golf in high school and college and still play competitively from time to time,” he said. “I also played hockey growing up and still play men’s league with some of my friends from college.”
What kind of kid were you at the age of your students? “I was a pretty quiet kid. I did reasonably well in school, but not outstanding. I didn’t have a ton of confidence and didn’t participate a lot in class as a result. I had a few teachers who sensed I had more to offer and were able to get more out of me, especially when it came to writing.”
Reedy said sports were his number one priority as a student in middle and high school, especially hockey: “I had a close group of friends who lived in my neighborhood and spent a lot of time with them.”
The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… “Never take yourself too seriously. When you’re in front of students all day, you are bound to make mistakes and make yourself look silly sometimes. You have to be willing to laugh at yourself and find the humor in situations to make sure the job is fun.”
If you could go back to school… “I would go to 11th grade because it was around the time I really found my place in life. I had a really great group of friends, I started to get a better understanding of what I wanted to do after high school and college and my confidence started to grow in my areas of interest as a student. I also had a couple teachers that year who inspired me to go into education.”
What is something you’re looking forward to this year? “My role is to support student behavior, so I want to continue recognizing positive behaviors and promoting student learning and our teachers’ efforts. Working with seventh- and eighth-grade students takes patience and understanding, so I’m really focused on being a good role model for kids and building relationships with our staff, students and community.”
If you walked into your new school building to theme music by a favorite artist or band, what would it be? “I love country music, so it would probably be something by Jon Pardi or Luke Combs.”
