With the coming of the new year, a new Cougar has joined the school and is prepared to learn.

Larry Ferebee, the new assistant principal, is the latest addition and is eager to interact with students and staff.

“Interacting with people and being approachable will help students to open up,” Ferebee said.

Change is part of any new job, and maybe the biggest for Ferebee is the difference in magnitude in comparison between his last school and ours.

“The school I came from only had about 580 kids this year, so the size is the first major difference,” Ferebee said. “In my last school, I could walk the entire school in five minutes,” Ferebee said.

Ferebee has a strong military background.  He retired from the military after 20 ½ years of service and was then the Junior Army JROTC instructor at his previous school in Virginia, Gretna High School.

His military background plays a big part in his job, and according to Ferebee, adds to his toolbox.

“In the military I held several leadership positions, and I had the chance to manage younger soldiers, Ferebee said.  “I had positions where I had to manage older soldiers, so those management positions will probably help me a lot.”

Ferebee has aspirations to better our school in more ways than one, even if that means improving upon older, well-oiled policies.

“Whatever is working, we can make it work better. And whatever is not working, let’s get it working,” Ferebee said.

Ferebee grew up playing multiple different sports throughout high school and college.

“In high school I ran varsity track.  I was a sprinter and a jumper. I also played on the varsity football team. When I graduated high school, I went into the army and ran track for the army, and I was also on the army boxing team,” Ferebee said.