Cathy Long set to retire from AHS

Contributed Auburn Villager Dr. Cathy Long

When Dr. Cathy Long was in her first year of teaching at Smiths Station and working on her master's degree at Auburn University, a friend mentioned a job opening at Auburn High School. She wasn't sure about the idea at first, but Long eventually applied and was hired as a teacher soon after.

"Thirty-four years later and I'm still here," she said. "And I've loved every minute of it."

After becoming assistant principal in the 1990s, Long served as interim principal when her predecessor was not given tenure. A few months into her new role, she decided she wanted to do the job permanently. Long is now in her 11th year as the high school's principal, and last fall announced that this year would be her last.

"I don't like to use the ‘R' word," Long said. "I like to say that I'm graduating with the class of 2010."

Dr. Todd Freeman, current executive director of operations and administrative services for Auburn City Schools, will take over the role as Auburn High principal starting July 1. The former history teacher was part of Dr. Long's staff for five years before joining the central office in 2003. A graduate of Jacksonville State and AU, Freeman also coached football and baseball for the AHS Tigers.

"Dr. Long is one of the most organized, detailed, supportive people I've worked with," Freeman said. "I've got big shoes to fill."

Freeman's position at the Auburn City Schools office includes overseeing school construction as well as discipline and safety issues. That knowledge, along with the understanding of how the local schools fit into the district and state levels as well as his experience as a teacher made him a top candidate for the principal job when he interviewed in November. By December, superintendent Terry Jenkins recommended Freeman to the board, and he was hired.

"After I left teaching, I really missed the interactions with students," Freeman said. "I relish the idea that I'll be able to be a part of that again. Of course I'll miss my job here as well as the people I work with, but I'm excited about what is ahead. There are some great challenges, but I enjoy taking them on."

Starting in early January, Freeman and Long have been working together at least once a week in an effort to better acclimate Freeman to his future position. Parts of the high school are currently under construction, but are expected to be completed by March. Once finished, Freeman will be able to spend more time at the school and with Long.

"It should make for a very smooth transition," Long said. "I have all the confidence in the world in Dr. Freeman. He's going to be great."

One of the principal's duties is to create a master schedule, and for the last 11 years, Long has been the only person to do it. Although anxious about passing the torch, Long said she is certain that Freeman will handle it with ease and even want to tweak it by the following year.

"There are always more ideas and better ways to do things," Long said. "That's what puts my mind at ease. I believe it is time for fresh ideas, to see if we can do things differently."

With about 1,300 students at Auburn High School, the staff expects that every student who starts high school will finish. Freeman said that in the last five years, Auburn High has made tremendous steps toward making that goal a reality.

"The foundation is there, and our goal is to build on it and keep that trend going," Freeman said. "This isn't taking a school that's in trouble and trying to make it a great school, it's already great. Dr. Long left a quite a legacy at the high school in the last 11 years and has put together a staff that is very competent, that cares about the kids and works hard. I'm fortunate to be able to walk over to the school and be a part of a team like that."

Another issue Freeman is preparing to weather is population growth. This year's senior class is the smallest in Auburn City Schools, so it's only a matter of time before the high school reaches capacity. Freeman said that is likely five to 10 years away.

The job of a principal, Freeman and Long both said, can change on the turn of a dime -- every day something new and sometimes unexpected crops up. The key is learning to handle situations as they arise.

"It's a job that you can prepare for, go to school for, but when you actually do it, it's different," Freeman said. "There's always a learning curve in a new job. But I will feel as prepared as I can be having worked with the people I work with in this office and from the time I spend with Dr. Long."

Although Long won't have her name on the principal's door next year, she said she would continue to live in the area and would be the school's biggest cheerleader.

"I'll still attend every football game," she said.

Long plans to help her sister and brother-in-law, who own a consulting company based out of Utah. The company provides research, evaluation and development services to clients in education, public health, nonprofit service, local government and business. With several clients in the Georgia and Alabama region, Long said her sister has asked her for years now to communicate with clients in the Southeast region to save her from traveling.

"I have more energy than the law allows," Long said. "I've never not worked, so I don't know how I'll deal with that. But my sister came in quickly and said, ‘I can have you work as much as you want to work.'"

Long added that she will also have more time to volunteer, spend time with her 12-pound shih tzu and visit her daughter, who is attending Tulane's law school. Even though she is excited about her retirement life, Long said saying goodbye would be incredibly difficult.

"I feel like my whole life is wrapped around this school," Long said. "I remember when I was the youngest teacher here, I wasn't even married at the time. Since I've been here I've gotten married, had two children that both graduated from here. About two-thirds of this staff I hired, so I feel like they're my babies."

In Long's tenure at Auburn High, the school has maintained stellar Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs as well as helping more students pass class by creating a credit recovery program that allows them to retake classes online. AHS has also improved its career tech programs by adding courses in health occupations, pre-engineering, culinary arts and business and marketing, as well as assisting students in preparation for the statewide graduation exam.

When Long first joined the Auburn High staff, girls' sports were nonexistent. Today the school offers opportunities in every sport sanctioned by the Alabama Athletic Association.

Long said she is also proud of the school's Tiger TV program.

"While this was certainly not my doing, it was a dream of mine to be able to have our own students do the announcements each day via television/computer to all the classrooms in the school," she said. "The implementation took several years, but under the leadership of Beth Antoine, we have now implemented a Tiger TV program that not only allows us to make announcements in the school, we are able to air on Channel 16 to the community and we are able to showcase all schools in Auburn City Schools, not just Auburn High School."

Freeman said his main goal as principal would be to build on that success and see that Auburn High continues on its promising path.

Long, confident that Freeman will do just that, said she believes that she is leaving the school on a good note.

"Auburn High is in a great place right now," Long said. "And it's only going to get better."