By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — When Tammi Campbell took over the leadership at Austin-East Magnet High School as the Executive Principal, the school was in great flux. When she stepped into the hallowed halls of her alma mater where she had been class president and Ms. Austin-East; the school was in a stormy season. Five students had died by gun violence, the pandemic had half the students in a virtual setting the year before with students now trying to come together again under one roof. For many of the kids, it would be their first-time high school experience. Distrust and fear rained down on all sides, both in the school and in the community. Despite the challenges in front of her, Principal Campbell boldly stepped into the storm.
Her priority from day one was the students. They came first and she made it clear she was there to hear them, their families, and the Black community in which Austin-East sits in the heart of. The key to Campbells success has been on relationship building. From day one when school started back Campbell used out of the box techniques to let the kids who had been under so much trauma know they were special. Yearly, she and her staff and community members would line the front entranceway of the school; music playing, banners flying, and hi fives flying all around, welcoming the kids back to classes. She also used special techniques to reduce tardies and absenteeism, It was a healing time, a way of letting them know they mattered, they were loved, and no matter what, they were roadrunners safe under her watch and free to excel. And excel they did.
The school has excelled in several areas, robotics, sports and academically with twelve of students receiving full rides to the University of Tennessee. Her goals on instilling pride in her students has been achieved as #2800 strong, the address of the school on Martin Luther King Drive has become the proud mantra for the school and the community. Campbell as the trusted messenger has built a strong following in the community with many of the parents and businesses backing her over the years. Under her guidance, Austin-East has been Achieving Excellence.
Now, like Mary Poppins, who, after serving the Banks children in the classic movie of the same name, opened her umbrella and floated away to her next adventure , so too has Tammi Campbell opened her umbrella of change and is now floating to a new level of leadership, one where the great works she achieved for the students at her beloved Austin-East will now be shared county wide as she assumes the position of Student and Family supports for all of Knox County. It will be a new challenge, and there may be new storms. No matter, she has proven, she is the right one.
They whispered to her, “you can’t withstand the storm, she whispered back, “I am the storm.”
Copyright TNTRIBUNE 2024. All rights reserved.
