The SPARK Academy and FAME Academy will welcome two new principals during the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

Lorian Charles, SPARK Academy at James L. Cowart Elementary School

Charles has worked in education for 21 years and is a graduate of Oakwood University in Huntsville.

“I went to school in Huntsville at Oakwood College, now a University, and got my degree in English Language Arts Education. So, I’ve got 21 years of experience and education. My first year was in Georgia, and the other 20 were in Athens. I taught middle school for one year, and I taught high school ELA for 10 years. I was an administrator at the high school for two years. Then for seven years, I was an administrator at Athens Intermediate School before I came (to SPARK),” said Charles. “I’ve got two kids and a wonderful husband, my daughter is a graduate of Athens High School, my other daughter, she’s in fourth grade at Athens Intermediate right now. I enjoy traveling, reading and working with kids. I do that everywhere all my life. I’ve been a camp counselor since I was like 15, and then I work with the young people at my church and so it’s kind of what I do. It’s ingrained in my soul and who I am.”

Charles made the transition from the classroom environment to administration in an effort to have an impact on a larger number of students. Being in an administrative role allows Charles to interact with more students than what she would be able to tied to a classroom.

“I really love what I did with the kids. When you’re in a classroom though, in a high school classroom I got to see 70 kids a year. Then I started thinking about impact and how I could do a whole school even if I’m not changing everything but it’s being able to interact with kids. I love teaching,” said Charles. “The reason why I went into education in the first place is to see that moment when that light bulb turns on, they get it or they’re inspired. They find something that they love or a way to shine with the things that they love. and I realized that if I went into leadership, I could have that opportunity to experience that with a larger number of kids and that was worth it for me.”

She wants to continue the current momentum of success the SPARK Academy is experiencing.

“My hope for being principal is really just to continue the momentum for success the school already has in place and to just keep moving forward. I think as individuals we have to be lifelong learners, always trying to do better and I think as organizations we have to do the same. This school was already in a great place doing great things. I just want to continue that forward momentum,” said Charles.

Ultimately, Charles’ goal for the 2022-23 school year is to connect with the community at SPARK to best determine where the school needs to grow next.

“I think the first and foremost thing is to connect with my community, whether it is the students in the building or the teachers, this school does so well with connecting with the community, and I want to connect with them as well,” said Charles. “This is not the Lorian Charles of Athens High School. This is not the Lorian Charles of Athens Intermediate School. This is the Lorian Charles of SPARK, and we’re doing this thing together. When I can connect with the community, I can kind of find out what their expectations are and find out where we can grow next. That’s not for me to decide. That’s a community decision. So, I’m looking forward to connecting and finding where to grow next.”

Amy Williams, FAME Academy at Brookhill Elementary School

Williams began at the FAME Academy as an assistant principal to support the school during significant faculty and staff changes, while continuing to work with central office coordinating elementary curriculum.

“I worked as a special ed teacher for one year and then I was moved to reading coach from there. I spent four or five years at the intermediate school as a reading coach, and then moved to the central office and worked my way up there to coordinate our elementary curriculum. and then I came to this school to support them. They’ve had several changes in different faculty and staff. I was here working as an assistant principal and also doing my district work for about two and a half years,” said Williams.

Moving into the principal position, she plans to continue embracing the vision of the school system and of FAME.

“I really embrace the vision of the district engage learning and the portrait of a graduate, and I’m hoping that we can do that through the arts. My first degree is in music therapy. I’m a registered music therapist with a minor in psychology and worked at a state hospital in adolescence, where I worked closely with the teachers that were there with them,” said Williams. “So, I went back and got a special ed endorsement, and then went back and got my master’s in curriculum. But I hope to see children expressing themselves in a multitude of ways and helping them grow academically and socially and emotionally.”

She hopes to see a full theatrical production at FAME during the 2022-23 school year allowing students to fully express themselves creatively in whatever capacity fits them best.

“My goal is that we are able to pull off a full-fledged theatrical production next spring, that we can get enough seed money to get started and work on it all through the year. and then perform for our fellow students. Then do some matinee to have enough money to put forward again into scripts and plays and music. So, I’m really hoping to get personnel in place to make that happen,” said Williams. “Because I think there’s something for everybody. Whether you want to be an usher, you want to work on printing the program or you want to work on painting the backdrops or work on costumes or lighting, there’s just something for everybody in that and I think it would bring us together as a school community and bring the community into our school.”

Williams hopes to create an environment where teachers and students find something to love in everyone.

“It’s a great team, and I came here promising myself that I would find something to love in everybody because I didn’t think that I could help them if I didn’t care about them, and I did. I’m hoping that’s what we carry over to kids and we find the thing in them that we love, and we don’t dwell on anything else. That’s the attitude and the climate I would like to create,” said Williams. “Everyone is welcome. Everyone is different. Everyone has something special to offer to the whole, even at five years old. So hopefully we can establish that more and more. I think the shape the world is in right now, looking for the positive and how to cooperate and collaborate is more important than ever, and I believe in the future will be a skill that separates adults.”