One of his children was graduated from Wheeling Park High School and will return to WVU for the Fall Semester, and his son, Jeremiah, will return to Wheeling Park High School for his sophomore year in August. Betsy, his wife of 22 years, is a school counselor at Triadelphia Middle School.
That’s what it’s about. Those three loved ones represent the reasons why Rick Jones has taught and coached and has been an administrator at middle schools, high schools, and now in the Central Office.
Add the drug epidemic as another reason why Jones is very concerned about his kids and every one of the children attending Ohio County Schools. Jones has drug tested his own children; yes, a positive for nicotine did register once. Education followed.
Since you became the assistant superintendent in Ohio County, what do you miss the most about teaching?
The most difficult part of transitioning from teaching to administration was getting out of coaching. I enjoyed teaching and coaching together because it was a lifestyle. To show up and teach all day then go straight to the gym to coach was such a wonderful time, especially because I was in my 20s and early 30s. I got to coach so many great kids, and we were really good, so it was so much fun. It also gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of coaches and kids from other schools.
When you move into administration, you get to relate to and help so many other people because as a principal you lead everything and everyone in your school. Of course, you also upset people along the way because there are a lot of decisions that have to be made.
I missed coaching and that lifestyle, but I enjoyed leading an entire school community. To move from a building principal to assistant superintendent is also a big change. Now instead of leading a building, you help direct 13 of them, 800 employees, and 5500 students. It can be overwhelming at times because there is just so much to deal with. Like every other stage in my career, having the opportunity to try to improve an entire district can be very satisfying.
What has proved to be the most difficult challenge you have encountered in your role with Ohio County Schools?
The biggest challenge is in this job is the amount of responsibility that goes with it. When you are teaching or running a building, countywide decisions are made for you, and you carry them out. When you are superintendent/assistant superintendent, you are making those big calls. I try extremely hard to be available and approachable to anyone and everyone, so that naturally keeps you very busy. The thing that makes the challenge easy is we have so many truly wonderful kids, staff, and parents in our county. It’s hard to describe how fulfilling it is to get to deal with all these great people on a daily basis.
You are very concerned about the students of the school system and the fact that the drug trade is so prevalent in the Upper Ohio Valley. Why?
When you have been in schools and gyms for 25 years, unfortunately you see in real-time what happens to kids when they go down the drug pathway. Times have obviously changed because marijuana felt taboo when I was in high school, and it’s not at all now. When marijuana is as common as beer was to us in high school, you are just one step closer to moving up to the next level of pills, etc. That scares the hell out of parents, including me. Whether we drug test or not in OCS, we will be doing more education to try to help kids not choose that path.
Why are sports important to overall education in your opinion?
Extracurricular activities are the best way to keep yourself focused on positive things throughout your school career. There are so many positives to these activities whether it be sports, music, clubs, and so on. We are so lucky to have the coaches we have in Ohio County.
Kids have to have something to work at to keep them busy and around positive people. Even if you’re not great at it, just being part of it will teach you so many valuable lessons. I want my own kids as well as OCS kids around our coaches as much as possible!
I know in my house my kids get sick of hearing me lecture them, so when a teacher or coach they get to know gets on them, it sticks better; .it takes a village. Also, let’s not forget the best part of high school sports, getting to argue with other adults about it … haha.
Is it difficult being the assistant superintendent AND having kids in the system?
It has its advantages and disadvantages for both me and my kids.
I think my son’s No. 1 goal last year was to not let anyone know I was his dad. That “street cred” gets ruined real fast when your dad is an administrator.
It’s really good for kids to grow up around schools, teachers, gyms, etc. My kids have each looked up to so many kids as they grew up and that’s great for their development. It’s tough for them because when they mess up, I’m going to know. Students without parents in the system may mess up and have the ability to keep it from their parents; my kids don’t have that luxury.
One thing they love about it is they always know about snow days first and they get to tell their friends and be a hero. I can’t wait to get back to regular school as soon as possible so we can go back to experiencing all that goes with in-person school.
