Students in the Brookhaven School District will be greeted bytwo new assistant principals when they return to school thisweek.

Rob McCreary, who has served as a high school history teacherand a coach in the district the last six years, has been named anassistant principal at Mamie Martin Elementary School.

Scott Merrell, who has taught Spanish at Brookhaven High Schoolfor two years, will serve as assistant principal at AlexanderJunior High.

McCreary, a 1986 Wesson High School graduate, is excited abouthis opportunity to become a role model in an elementary schoolsetting.

“I’m looking forward to working with that age group,” he said,adding that he has many plans for the upcoming year.

He wants to create a caring environment for students by lettingthem know he will help them in any way and be a “friend” tothem.

“I want to be out and about, highly visible, so the kids feellike they can come see me when they need to,” McCreary said.

McCreary hopes to instill that same philosophy in the parentsand teachers at Mamie Martin by having an open door policy. Hebelieves an open door policy, which is also promoted by DanitaHobbs, Mamie Martin’s new principal, is the key to gainingcommunity support and involvement in the school system.

“We plan to have more parental involvement, because parents playa big role in a successful education system,” McCreary added.

He will be working side-by-side with co-assistant principalBetty Edwards, who has been in the school district for manyyears.

McCreary received his associate of arts degree in business fromCopiah-Lincoln Community College and his bachelor of science degreein history from the University Southern Mississippi.

McCreary and Merrell attended Jackson State University at thesame time, both working on master’s degrees in educationadministration. After car pooling for the last year and threemonths, they obtained their degrees Saturday.

Merrell, a 1986 graduate of Huntington Academy in Louisiana, isalso excited about the new opportunity that awaits him at AJH.

“This is something I really wanted to do,” he said. “It’s whereI think I need to be.”

Merrell has an array of ideas for the upcoming school year aswell. His number one goal, though, is working with new AJHPrincipal LeVander German to make the school as successful aspossible.

“I want to make Alexander Junior High a model school in thestate, if not the nation,” Merrell said.

Merrell believes his background will help him obtain that goal.Before becoming a Spanish teacher in the Brookhaven SchoolDistrict, he worked for four years in the Hinds County SchoolDistrict.

He received his bachelor’s degree in education from Universityof Southern Mississippi in 1995.

Merrell hopes to have a positive influence on the students whilethey are preparing for high school.

School officials are pleased with the amount of enthusiasmMerrell and McCreary have shown in the school district.

“They’re both very talented administrators, and I think theywill do a good job,” Superintendent Dr. Sam Bounds said.