Tag Archives: Willman

Meet assistant principal Rob Willman

By Alexis Burch

Assistant Principal Rob Willman can be seen walking the halls, talking to students, observing classrooms, or disciplining students. Willman is just one of the many administrators at FC, but being an administrator was not always Willman’s plan.

“I wanted to be a lot of things,” said Willman. “I wanted to be a professional athlete. I also wanted to be a college football coach.”

Willman grew up right here in Floyds Knobs and graduated from Hanover College. Willman began right back where he started when he took the English job at FC in 1999. Willman did not decide to become an administrator until the fall of 2008.

“I wanted to do something different,” said Willman. “I wanted to see if I had the leadership skills to do the job.”

As the years of being an administrator have gone by, Willman said he is enjoying a lot of things about the job.

“I really enjoy going to the events,” said Willman. “I like to see the success of the students and staff. I really like observing, that is probably my favorite. I feel like after observing the classrooms and the way teachers teach, I could go back into the classroom and be better teacher than I was before.”

Although there seems to be plenty of positives of being an administrator Willman said there are a few down sides to the job.

“[The hardest part is] the difficult conversations that aren’t positive, whether it’s with students, teachers,or parents.”

For those freshmen wondering where to find such a person as Willman, he said he can be found just about anywhere. The hallways, classrooms, and the lunchroom are the places students will most likely spot him.

“It is hectic, it is busy,” said Willman about his administrative job. “You have a to-do list every day that is usually, by 8:30, different.”

Cyberbullying laws slow to catch up with growing social media

By: Eli Bolus

Bullying, and more specifically cyberbullying, has gotten a lot of media publicity lately.  Stories have been written and news programs like Fox News have done video specials.  However, cyberbullying is still a rather new concept, and school systems are still trying to keep up.

Principal Janie Whaley said the first time she heard the term “cyberbullying” was only three or four years ago, and with the rise of technology and social media it has become more of a problem within schools.

The only set guidelines against cyberbullying are those that fall under the basic anti-bullying rules the school has. Assistant principal Rob Willman said that the district only defines what “cyber harassment” is.  The same is true for state law, as Indiana Code defines harassment and obscene messages as “ [someone who] uses a computer network or other form of electronic communication to:
(A) communicate with a person; or
(B) transmit an obscene message or indecent or profane words to a person.”

Whaley said the main task is determining if the cyberbullying is an issue within the school day and “nine out of 10 times it is.”

Willman said students are sometimes reluctant to bring in evidence of cyberbullying because of the exchange that goes on between both parties.  If it is clear that both parties were harassing or insulting the other, then it is a conflict and not an act of bullying and must be dealt with differently.

Willman said the key is for students to be comfortable to come forward and to trust the staff enough to tell them when this happens.  Whaley said cyberbullying will continue to be a problem with more and more kids getting phones with internet access.  

Whaley takes over as principal today as Jensen accepts promotion

by: Eli Bolus and Chase Gosman

After 24 years of working on faculty at FC, Louis Jensen has been promoted to director of high schools for the New Albany-Floyd County School Corporation.  Jensen first found out of his promotion 10 days ago.  Former assistant principal Janie Whaley takes over as principal today.

Assistant principal Rob Willman will take Whaley’s former position and Whaley, Willman, and Jensen will move to hire a new dean to fill his place.

Over the next few months Jensen will spend less and less time at FC until he is only coming in periodically. He will also help to acclimate Whaley to her new position and help in hiring another assistant principal; the position will be advertised as a “dean”.

Whaley said she is excited and wants to “keep it extraordinary” at FC.

Check out February’s edition of the Bagpiper for more detailed coverage of this ongoing story.