By Zoe Guo — Correspondent
A new face greeted Sharon High students at the doors when they returned from summer vacation: Ms. Jenifer Andrews, the new assistant principal for freshmen and juniors, has joined the school.
Ms. Andrews is one of several new additions to the SHS staff since the beginning of this year, especially within the administration, and she has started off this school year with a new sense of enthusiasm.
“I was so ready for the students to come, for school to open…because that’s what we love as educators. It’s not empty buildings, but we like them filled with kids,” said Andrews.
Andrews was drawn to Sharon because of the community and the opportunity to work with her close friend and mentor, Ms. Keenan. “The diversity of this community was really something that interested me… the other part is also that I worked with Mrs. Keenan at Taunton for 20 years, and she’s been a mentor to me. I just think she’s such a great leader that given the opportunity to sort of follow her, I really couldn’t say no,” she said. Andrews has already met many community members through the ribbon cutting ceremony and new student and teacher orientations. She says that she hopes to interact with others in the SHS community in an effort to contribute to the sense of unity that she finds at SHS. “…just showing up every day, with a positive attitude, and being available to help teachers and students and staff be their best; that is based on this fundamental belief that we’re all in this together and that together we can do great things,” said Andrews.
Prior to becoming assistant principal, Andrews had taught for twenty years in Taunton. As a member of Taunton High, she was an English teacher for thirteen years before becoming a college and career counselor. Among other roles, Andrews was the National Honor Society advisor, the co-chair of the scholarship committee, the AP coordinator, a member of the NEASC steering committee, and the PSAT and SAT testing coordinator. Andrews reflects positively on it, but believes it was time for a change. “It was a great experience, but sometimes it’s good to try new things too,” she recalled.
Outside of work, Andrews has many interests. “I enjoy spending time with my family, walking my dog, Edgar, and going to my sons’ activities. I also love watching sports, especially football and hockey,” she said.
In her free time, Andrews also loves to listen to music. “For fun, I love to go to live music; I love to go to concerts. . . . I love Pink. . . . Favorite song, maybe of all time ever, like the song that always gets me, is probably Vienna by Billy Joel,” she said.
In fact, Andrews even says that if she could have any other job besides being an assistant principal, she would be the head singer of a band. However, she says that her singing voice doesn’t seem to agree. “As much as I totally love music, I have the worst singing voice, and so I try not to sing a lot in front of people…I try to hide how I’m so tone deaf and I’m very flat when I sing, so even though I know the words to everything, I’m a terrible singer,” she admitted.
For her first year, Andrews says she plans to listen closely to community input so that she can better understand the needs of Sharon High, while also enjoying the journey of acclimating to a new school. “As much as I come with experience, I’m really working hard to be open-minded and to be receptive to the community’s vision for this school, and to have fun along the way too. Because we have to laugh and we have to have fun or else why are we even doing this, right?” explained Andrews.
Above all, Andrews says that she is here to stay and be there to support the community. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be here,” she said.