When Jonathan Stribling walked the halls of Habersham Central High School as a student, Jim Jones was principal, Larry Black was head coach and Raider Stadium sat in the school’s front yard.
Today, Jones and Black are gone but not forgotten and Raider Stadium sits across the street from where the new high school stands.
It’s in that new high school where Stribling will soon be settling into his new office. The Habersham County native and Habersham Central graduate (Class of ’94) is the school’s new principal.
His journey to the front office started after graduation when he moved away to college. He Earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Extension Education and, later, a Specialist Degree in Administration and Supervision. He taught Agriculture in Stephens and White Counties before returning to his alma mater seven years ago as an assistant principal.
Now, his high school journey has come full circle.
“It means a tremendous amount to me to get to be principal of the high school because I am an alum.” ~ HCHS principal Jonathan Stribling
“I am very, very, excited to be the new principal at Habersham Central,” says Stribling. “I’m excited about the opportunity to serve our students and work with the faculty and staff to provide the best education we can.”
It’s been 23 years since Stribling sat in the student section at Raider Stadium, but this now married father of two says Friday night’s in the fall still make him nostalgic.
“When I see the boys run through the paper and the Band of Blue march across the field, it brings about positive memories and that motivates me to give our students the best high school experience possible,” he says.
Stribling points to the legacies of former administrators and faculty such as Jones and Black as another source of motivation. He says they were “instrumental in the development of Habersham Central.” He hopes to carry on the traditions of the past while blending them with a 21st century approach to education.
Much of that approach will be focused on relationship building.
When asked what his main goal is as he steps into the job, Stribling says, “Fostering relationships with our faculty, with our students, and our parents and stakeholders of our school system. That’s the main thing that I want to do. I want to solidify relationships and trust with all of those entities of the school.”
Building relationships and trust take time, and that’s something Stribling hopes to have plenty of in his new job. “I hope to have a long, extended tenure as principal at Habersham Central,” he says.
Asked if he has a message for Habersham County parents, Stribling says, “I’d like to tell them thank you for entrusting their most valuable asset to us at the high school and we will provide a premiere education for all of our students at Habersham Central.”
And to the students…
“I am super excited and I want them to be as excited as I am to return to school as Raiders. The students make the school and they’re the reason we’re all here. I want them to know that and feel that.”
READ: Stribling named HCHS principal
Stribling enters his new job with the full support of the Habersham County School Superintendent and school board. He expresses gratitude for their support and says he’s “looking forward to serving the Habersham Central community.”
