Jim Head

Profile Updated: August 30, 2019
Residing In: Moberly, MO USA
Spouse/Partner: Betsy (48 yrs)
Occupation: Retired
Children: Amy, 1971-2014 Graphic Arts/Design. Graduated from MU 5/09.
Cliff, Born 1980 MU Grad. Works for More…University Tech Institute. Cliff and wife Kristi have one daughter, Emma.
Max, Born 1999 Soph Drury University - Music Therapy
Grandchildren:

Adopted our grandson Max in July of 2014
Max is now a Soph at Drury University and is a wonderful young man. He is majoring in Music Therapy and in 6 different performance groups. Jazz is his thing.

Comments:

Betsy and I graduated from Truman (first time) in 1973. MA in 86 and Ed. Spec. in 89. I taught Speech for 16 years and then went into Administration. HS Principal at Centralia for 10 years and retired from Troy Buchanan in 2004. During my days in Administration, I served as President of the State Principals Association and then was elected to the National Board of Secondary School Principals. Must have been all the time I spent in the office in HS?? I have served as Director of Administrative Field Experience for William Woods University since 2004.
I bow hunt a lot now and have recently killed three
bears. Just built a new 1900 SF Hunting Lodge on our family farm East of Novelty. Email jchead51@gmail.com for pictures. Better yet come see us. We are there almost every weekend.
We now have an antique mini mall business. We call it JBPickn. We have booths at Midway Antique Mall in Columbia.

RECENTLY FEATURED ARTICLE IN THE NAESP Journal:

PRINCIPALS FIND SUPPORT FOR THEIR STUGGLING STUDENTS IN THE MOST UNLIKELY OF PLACES – A WOMEN’S PRISON



REDEMPTION chronicles the story of Stacey Lannert and the high school principal, Jim Head, who saw value in Stacey as an individual, even inside harsh prison walls.

The world is full of hardship and adversity, but there are those remarkable accounts of individuals who rise above their misfortune to make a positive difference in their life and in the lives of those around them. REDEMPTION pushes the limits of all those challenges and takes most of us well beyond what one would think is possible.

In her book, Stacey Lannert writes about the hell of her childhood molestation, murdering her abusive father to protect her younger sister, receiving a prison sentence for life without the possibility of parole, being pardoned by Governor Blunt after 18 long years of incarceration and setting about finding her place in the free world. Stacey’s message also conveys how an educator, Jim Head, who was trying to get help for his high school students, provided her with the opportunity to make a positive difference for other people. An opportunity that seemed impossible inside the bleak confinement of life without parole. Stacey contends that the encouragement and continued guidance of Principal Jim Head gave her the courage to apply to law school and move successfully toward a career as a lawyer.

Jim Head has stated …”When you go through life, God puts some remarkable people in your path. If you're lucky, you will realize it. If you're smart, you will foster those relationships in a way that allows both parties to contribute to the success of others”.

During Jim’s time as principal at Centralia High School, he decided to go way beyond “thinking outside the box” to find help for the struggling teenage girls and their parents. He armed himself with an old style VHS camera and headed to the woman’s prison in Vandalia to ask female inmates this question, “What, in your opinion, could we have done to possibly alter the course of events that resulted in your finding yourself in the situation you are in today?” The perspective during these taped interviews provided by the young prisoners became the springboard for better understanding and intervention as Jim continued to work with the female teenagers who were struggling to be successful.

While president of the Northeast District Principals Association, Jim arranged for a group of other principals to go to the prison in Vandalia, to also take part in these powerful conversations with those prisoners who had vital and revealing input for educators to consider. Stacey, not only impressed the entire group, but some principals chose to champion her legal case and made formal pleas to state leaders to consider any form of clemency for her. Later, Governor Roy Blunt released Stacey from life imprisonment.

In this most unlikely setting, Jim met Stacey and it was here that this amazing journey began. What began as a partnership in prison, continues as a close working relationship today. Stacey is currently attending Mizzou Law School at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In her first and second years of law school, Stacey has been recognized for her academic success. In July 2015, Stacey was selected to join the very prestigious Missouri Law Review. In 2016 Stacey was named Associate Managing Editor of The Missouri Law Review. Stacey continues to seek out ways to make a positive difference in helping other struggling youth overcome adversity in American schools. She currently travels the country speaking to a variety of audiences, although the demands of law school limit the scheduling of speaking opportunities; Stacey is available to present her message of hope in the midst of despair. Her story reveals the ability of a young woman to rise above the most horrific of conditions other than a life of abuse and a world confined within a women’s penitentiary. Stacey’s message of hope, success and encouragement demonstrates the powerful results of ONE educator finding value and opportunity in the most unlikely of circumstances.

As school leaders, Jim encourages each of you to look in the most unlikely of places to unearth opportunities to support the struggling youth in your school buildings. The best expert for advice can sometimes come from those individuals who are not considered experts at all. Jim has said, “When we talk about what’s best for kids, let’s not forget to ask them what they think.”

Jim Head, former high school principal in Wright City, Centralia and Troy, also served several years on the Missouri Association of Secondary Principals and then the National Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP and NASSP) Board of Directors and as the MASSP President in 2002. He is currently the Director of Administrative Field Experience at William Woods University and can be contacted at jchead51@gmail.com

School Story:

*First HS touchdown, (97 yards) called back for clipping!!
*Big Kids!
*First drink at Coon Creek park. Schlitz ML
*Taking things out of lost and found, wrapping them and giving to certain teacher as gifts.
*JL Burditt-"I'm gonna shoot you Jimmy" & "Don't mess with those girls, you'll get the flu"
*50 yrd. dash with Mr. Schroeder. Never forget his shorts.

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