Scott Carson cheers for the underdog. He likes helping struggling students find their way.
“I’ve always been drawn to students who came from rougher situations. The ones who are the hardest to love are the ones who need it the most. That’s just their defense mechanism,” he said. “That’s why you have to work together and take time to build trust. Once you have it, they know whatever I’m telling them is in their best interest. That’s always satisfying.”
Carson will have plenty of opportunities to work with those students, as he takes the reins as Iola High School principal next year. He has spent the past three years as the school’s assistant principal and athletic director.
He also was recently named “Assistant Principal of the Year” by the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals. Colleague Scott Crenshaw was named “Principal of the Year,” a rare recognition for both the top administrators in one school in the same year.
That achievement wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of the entire staff, both Carson and Crenshaw stressed. And it points to the district’s culture, which supports and encourages students to succeed as individuals, Carson said.
“Everyone here will go the extra mile to work with the kids so they have a positive experience while they’re here,” Carson said. “It’s nice to be recognized but I feel like it should be a whole building award.”
As Carson steps into IHS’s top leadership role, he plans to continue that level of success.
CARSON followed his parents’ footsteps. Both were teachers and his dad retired as superintendent of the Erie school district.
Before coming to Iola, Carson coached and taught math at Labette County High School for 12 years.
Math isn’t always an easy subject to learn, he said, so he saw the value of building positive relationships in order for students to become more receptive to learning hard concepts.
The approach also helped him realize the multiple impacts he could have on a student’s life.
“Students would come back and say, ‘I never would have graduated if I didn’t have you as a math teacher,’” he said. “That’s one of the best parts of teaching, having students come back and tell you that. It’s very satisfying.”
Wanting the challenge of working as an administrator, Carson returned to school to earn his master’s degree. He and his wife, Tiffany, moved to Iola in 2017. She works as a surgery nurse at Allen County Regional Hospital. They have five children, ranging in age from 23 to 13: Chandler, Tristan, Ellie, Landon and Cortland; and two grandchildren.
Carson met Crenshaw at a Greenbush educational cooperative conference. When Crenshaw was promoted from assistant principal to principal in 2017, he reached out to Carson and suggested he apply. They would work as a team, sort of like co-principals, Crenshaw told him.
Three years later, when Crenshaw announced plans to leave to become superintendent at the Lincoln school district, the board immediately hired Carson as principal. Matt Baumwart, currently the assistant principal and athletic director at Iola Middle School, will move into the same role at IHS.
“It will be a good transition with Matt. He comes here knowing the community and the families,” Carson said.