VALDOSTA — Valdosta High School begins the 2002-03 school today under the leadership of Thomas Craft.

Craft was appointed to serve as principal of the “winningest high school in America” by the Valdosta Board of Education on June 24, following an exhaustive search.

During a reception Tuesday afternoon in the high school’s cafeteria, Craft said he was pleased with the staff he will be working with in the days to come.

“The faculty and administrators here are very warm and receptive of my ideas,” said the former assistant principal of Apalachee High School.

Craft said he plans to meet with every student at VHS during the first two days of school to discuss his expectations and vision.

“I plan to give them privileges they have not had in the past,” he said. “I also plan to tighten some areas that need attention.”

Academically, Craft said the high school is meeting state minimums, but he hopes to exceed them with the addition of academic-type electives.

“Raising the bar is good,” he said. “I am a firm believer that success breeds success.”

Ultimately, Craft said he wants the students and educators under his watch to project a positive attitude about VHS.

“I want these people to have something positive to say about VHS,” he said. “I want them to be able to talk about something good that happened this year.”

From 1985-1993, Craft taught middle and high school band in Rockdale County. He later moved to Waycross where he was minister of music at Waycross First United Methodist Church.

Craft, who earned a doctorate degree, has six years of administrative experience as an assistant principal with approximately three years each in the Brantley County and Barrow County School Systems.

Craft is married to Joyce (Joy) Craft, former choral director at Winder-Barrow High School, and has three children — Elise, 15; Leah, 11; and Andrew, 9.



To contact reporter Jessica Pope, please call 244-3400, ext. 255.