*BHS Assistant Principal*
By: BHS Staff Profiles
September 5, 2025
Chosen for this year’s first Staff Spotlight is Mrs. Annie McGhee. This school year is her first year at Brooklyn High School. Before coming here, Mrs. McGhee worked in Florida as a physical education teacher, and then, she began working with children to focus on dropout prevention. This enabled her to be in different classrooms with 40-60 students on her caseload. After this, she moved to Pennsylvania and did textbook consulting, which involved examining the various learning standards for all 50 states. She then moved to Ohio, where she became the principal at Jane Addams Business Career Center. Then, she went to Independence High School and worked as an athletic director and assistant principal for nine years. In her free time, Mrs. McGhee loves spending time with her family and doing adult activities with her three kids. Also, her family loves sports! A fun fact about Mrs. McGhee is that she has moved 14 different times to 14 different places.
Q: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you see at our school, and how do you plan to address them?
A: “For me personally, getting to know the students, the parents, the staff, and the community is the most challenging part about being a new staff member. I do not have anyone in a class, and I do not have those interactions as much with students as the teachers do every day. Being present in the hallways, classrooms, and lunchroom is all-important in trying to get to know everyone. With the seniors, it is hard because I only have one year with them. Being at the Senior Sunrise on Tuesday was fun. Seeing everyone having a good time, seeing the sun rise, and being all together was great. Brooklyn truly has a strong community, and having the two schools connected is also a great thing. Everyone has been very welcoming, so I am happy to be here.”
Q: What challenges do you have as an assistant principal in a small school?
A: “One challenge is how to make time for everyone who wants to be involved in a club, a sport, or any activity someone wants to be involved in. Another challenge would be trying to get everyone involved in something. I do not like to typically tell people no, and I like to figure out a different approach or a different opportunity for the situation that is brought up.”
Q: What is the hardest decision that you have made in your career?
A: “Oftentimes, all adults in the building end up having strong connections with the students. A student brings up a situation that happened, that upset them, made them sensitive, or made them feel a certain way. Being a person that the student comes to for help is hard. As I am new, I am not that experienced in this role yet. So, I end up having that student go to someone else, who may be able to help better. That student may need more of a mental health person or someone with better skills than me. It can be very difficult when a student comes to you and shares something that they obviously trust you with, and you know they need to get more help. So, you are doing it for the right reasons, but being able to tell the students ‘Hey, thank you so much for trusting me with this, but I think you need to get more help from just me.’ That is the hard part. You want students to continue to trust you, not distrust you.”
Q: What are the first three things you would do as a new assistant principal to engage the community with our school?
A: “There are a lot of events that happen. It was very unfortunate that we could not have the back-to-school rally last Thursday because of the weather. I think it is important to have multiple events going on at once because it gets everyone more hyped about what is actually happening.”
Q: Describe a personal goal that you are currently working towards.
A: “I am learning how to be an empty-nester. For the last 22 years, my husband and I have been so center-focused on our kids and making sure they have had the best opportunities that they could have had. A lot of our lives revolved around them. So, learning how to be ourselves and not having to worry too much about them is definitely a change. It’s a little tricky, to be honest. I am excited for this new chapter in life for him and me, though.”
Q: If your life were a movie, what would it be titled?
A: “‘Where in the World is Annie Today?’ My friends and family always ask me where I am because I am always traveling for any chance I get. Every weekend, I am usually somewhere else than I was the previous weekend.”
Q: Where did you grow up, and what is your fondest memory?
A: “I did not grow up in one place. I traveled a lot, even as a kid. Some memories I do have are from Panama City. I think I stayed there the longest. Growing up in a military family allowed me to experience a lot of different things. There were so many different things that were important to me along the way. I am hoping that this Winter, we get tickets and take the kids to Panama City because they have never been there, and we want them to see how beautiful the city is. I lived there two-and-a-half different times, and it feels like a home to me, even if I did not live there for long.”
Q: How did you spend your Summer?
A: “I did a lot of traveling this Summer. My daughter graduated from The University of Arkansas, which marked the start of our Summer. Our family went to celebrate. We then did orientation for my youngest daughter at Kansas State University. My son went to Airborne School down in Georgia, where we got to see him jump out of a plane. He also attended another training program, which was held in Kentucky, where he graduated. We have a lakefront family house in Iowa, so I was also there. To end the Summer, I went to Ireland and missed the first couple of days of school. Ireland has been on my bucket list for years, and I finally got to visit. We also have a house in Chicago, and we visited there all Summer long. So, lots of traveling.”
Thank you for your time, Mrs. McGhee. We hope you enjoy our school district and community. Welcome to Brooklyn!
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 