By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
Russellville Middle School has a new face in its main office as Assistant Principal Karen Thorn is just beginning to settle into her new job.
Thorn was named as the school's new assistant principal during the summer as a replacement for Jason Simmons, who took a position at another school.
While Thorn is new the Russellville School System, she no stranger to the education system. She spent 11 years as the Business Education teacher at Red Bay School, and has even taught at the college level for two semesters early in her career.
"Teaching college students was very different," Thorn said. "It's amazing how well they [college students] pay attention during class."
While Thorn says she enjoyed teaching the older students, she recognizes that her passion is with the younger kids.
"There are more discipline problems, but I just enjoy the kids," Thorn said.
Thorn still resides in Red Bay with her husband, Ronald, and their youngest daughter who is in the 11th grade at Red Bay.
"It's [moving to RMS] different for my youngest daughter," Thorn said. "She started kindergarten the same year I started teaching."
Now, Thorn faces new challenges as a school administrator. She said that the biggest change for her was the different aspects of her positions.
She assists Frankie Hammock in making sure the students have a safe environment in which to learn, helping teachers with different things like curriculum, and even helps discipline the students on occasion.
"As an administrator, you wear many hats and you are dealing with all the children in the school instead of just your class," Thorn said.
She added that one of the things that impressed her about RMS is the warm welcome she got immediately.
"Everyone was so friendly and welcoming here," Thorn said. "That means a lot to me."
She added that she is excited about becoming a part of the RMS family, and looks forward to working with the staff and faculty.