Tina Coan new Phillips High School principal

By Amy Melson
Courtesy of the Northwest Alabamian

BEAR CREEK — Tina Coan, a native of the Bear Creek community and a long-time teacher at Phillips Schools, has now returned to Phillips as the new high school principal, effective July 1.
A 1992 graduate of PHS, Coan earned an associate’s degree from Northwest-Shoals Community college, where she played volleyball, and then a B.S. in early childhood and elementary education from Athens State University.
She began her teaching career at Phillips Elementary School, where she taught kindergarten, second, third and fourth grades at various times before becoming a reading/instructional coach.
While teaching at PES, she worked on her master’s degree in instructional leadership at the University of West Alabama, completing the degree in 2021.
In July, 2021, after 23 years at PES, Coan accepted a position as assistant principal at Moulton Middle School, which has a student body of around 500 fifth through eighth graders.
"I'm happy to be home. I'm glad to get back to the school where I came from," Coan said, adding she would not have expected she would one day return to PHS as its principal.
"I've come full circle,”  Coan said. “It's been a while since we've had (a principal) who is from here, that knows the traditions from years ago.  I want to continue those traditions. I want to begin a new tradition for Phillips High School.”
She also said it's very nice to now be working only a 12-minute drive from her home. The three years she spent at MMS gave her the chance to gain experience in another school system, Coan said.
"I think it's good to have change a little bit, (to) see how other places do things and run things. It was very good experience for me, and they were very good to me,”  Coan said.
Asked about this being her first high school position, Coan said, "It's going to be challenging, just (because) I (have an) elementary background, but having the middle school experience, I think it's going to help prepare me for being here at the high school.
"I just have to take it day by day in baby steps. I've got to prioritize what needs to be addressed first and then go from there," she continued.
"I want to take other people's input, people in the community, students here at the school, teachers, alumni," she noted. "I want to involve as many people and be transparent when prioritizing some of these projects that we're going to have to do."
Those projects include repairing the bleachers in the football stadium, which she has already been discussing with the Marion County Board of Education maintenance coordinator.
"My parents went to school here and graduated here, and (the bleachers) have been here since they have been here," Coan explained, noting that the bleachers were made out of dirt-filled frames topped with a thin layer of concrete.
"Now the concrete is starting to chip and break away.  We want to try to make it safer," she said.
Another project Coan is launching is establishing a clothing closet at PHS.
"Of course, academics is first to me," Coan continued. "That's my number one priority.
"When hiring a math teacher and a special ed teacher, I looked for people who are going to fit in with the staff here at the school, but I also looked at who is best qualified to teach, to help us improve math scores. That's one of the big concerns I had, looking at the scores we've received," Coan said, "and (others are) just building the culture here and boosting the morale."
One part of the culture she wants to build is pride in PHS. Coan said she wants everyone at PHS - teachers and students alike - to take pride in everything they do.
 "If you take pride in what you do, you're going to do a great job," she noted. "Whether it's the facilities, whether it's your academics, be proud to be from Philips High School.”
Coan also plans to emphasize teamwork.
"With this small amount of teachers we have, you have to be creative in being able to offer students things they deserve,”  Coan said.
She said it's important for faculty members to, "work together, step up and do what needs to be done."
"For example, I was at Moulton Middle, and for a short time, we didn't have a custodian," Coan said. "I talked to the people I was interviewing and (told them), 'In my job description, it was not that I would be taking out trash, sweeping, mopping floors, cleaning toilets, but I did what I needed to do, what needed to be done. I took pride in what I was doing there. I wanted it to be clean, I didn't want students to go into a filthy bathroom and the halls to be dirty.'”
Coan sees encouraging faculty and students to take pride in what they do as part of boosting morale.
"We're going…