Bobby Dodd to become new MHS principal
Incoming Principal Bobby Dodd shares his excitement preparing to enter the Mason district.
Riley Johansen | Staff Writer
On Friday, May 25, members of the MHS staff gathered together after school to get their first chance to meet Bobby Dodd, the incoming principal.
Dodd has been a high school principal for seven years. Three years at New Lexington High School and most recently at Gahanna Lincoln High School where he was principal for four years. He spoke to the Mason High School staff today about his excitement to be a part of a community as prestigious and unified as Mason. He emphasized to those attending the meet and greet that his main focus for his first year would be on student voice to help build the district he’s already heard so many great things about.
“I think all of our students need to have a voice,” Dodd said. “We need student input on how to make Mason a better place, better than it already is. The district is here for the kids, and we always have the opportunity for growth and there’s no better way to do that than through our students.”
Dodd also made a point to draw attention to the fact that he wants to be very closely connected to those in the high school, building relationships with the students, staff, and the overall community by keeping open lines for communication.
“I plan to be always around the building, always around the district and community so that way students will be able to see me and interact with me,” Dodd said. “But also I’d like to set a culture with the staff and the students so that they are open to share with the staff, and share with me as well as student leadership teams to make progress, and there’s proven success behind that.”
Incoming Principal Bobby Dodd speaks about his plans to MHS staff.
Incoming superintendent Jonathan Cooper said he was impressed by the connection that Dodd has already made with the Mason community. Through the long process it takes to be chosen for such an important job as this, Cooper said the new addition of introducing the candidates for the position to students, teachers, parents, and business owners made Dodd a clear front-runner to be chosen, eventually leading to his hiring.
“For the first time ever, we started a community panel to elevate the voice of our staff, students, and parents to be a part of the process,” Cooper said. “We had a town hall style, where about thirty people sat in a room to ask questions, and then a small room with business owners asking other types of questions. Besides all of the other data we record, we want to make sure we have a good culture fit, and that is where we selected Mr. Dodd. The community panel was essential to this process and that feedback really changed my thinking as a leader and helped me to land on the decision that I did.”
Dodd is looking forward to taking a leadership position in a school with an accomplished student body which made it fairly easy for him to transfer from his previous school to one with even more opportunities.
“Everyone knows through data regarding the district, whether it be AP courses, honors courses, everything’s great on their report cards; it’s a great place to be,” Dodd said. “It’s hard to explain being in a place that’s already great and then having an opportunity to go to a place like Mason, where it doesn’t really get any better. The community, the stakeholders, fantastic and talented kids, it’s really a no-brainer when you get to be the leader of a building like this.”
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Photos by Tanner Pearson.
Video by Alex Lisa.