Having gained a myriad of experiences over the years at her alma mater, Christy Young is ready to employ everything she has learned to a school that is in the process of rebuilding its staff.

Entering the 19th year of her tenure, Young was hired in February by the Board of Education to succeed Jessica Thurston as principal of the Poplar Bluff Kindergarten Center. 

"As a principal, you hope that you leave it a little bit better than when you came," reflected Thurston, who accepted an administrative position in Puxico, closer to where her family resides. “And I think Christy is going to take it even further—to the next level."

Young split summer school duties in June with Thurston in order to become acquainted with the building. The two happened to have co-taught together back when Young’s career began at O’Neal Elementary.

The first eight years of Young’s tenure were spent teaching second through fourth grades at the elementary school, then in 2014 she transferred to Oak Grove, where she devoted the next eight years to teaching third graders.

A former cheerleader for PBHS and later Three Rivers College, where she began her collegiate journey, Young simultaneously coached the Competition Cheerleading Team at Senior High and later Junior High, when the young squad placed nationally via the Universal Cheerleaders Association.

During the 2020/21 school year, Young answered the call to teach third graders virtually district-wide. Before then, she was averse to embracing new technology, she admitted, but she participated in weekly professional development that entire year. Young became so adept at incorporating new tools into the classroom, she was hired as an instructional coach at Puxico.

She returned home last year to teach fourth grade at the Middle School. When multiple administrative positions opened up this year, Young threw her hat in the ring, and ended up getting hired at the building where she had not taught previously. However, her daughter Bailey Beard happens to be employed there as a certified occupational therapist assistant in cooperation with the Early Childhood Center.

“I have no doubt Kindergarten is where I'm supposed to be," Young said in retrospect. "Good teaching looks the same at Kindergarten, or the Middle School, or even the High School. Kids are kids.”

Early in her public education career, Young knew she wanted to become a leader one day, she said. She received her master’s in education administration from William Woods University in Fulton a decade ago, after earning her bachelor’s in elementary education from Central Methodist University in Park Hills.

Previously known for its veteran staff, the Kindergarten Center has produced more than 50 percent of the district-wide Teachers of the Year since 2012. Young attributes the trend to the hands-on nature and pace that comes with working with 5-year-olds.

“I will say over and over, my staff is amazing. If they did not love kids and have a heart for teaching, they would not be at Kindergarten,” Young observed. “The most growth probably happens at Kindergarten.”

This year, the Kindergarten Center will be adding eight new staff members, with several being teachers along with a building secretary and a nurse, plus there are a few more certified retirements anticipated next year. Assembling a newer team, Young plans to lead a reboot of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system, “taking it back to tier one, training staff from the ground up,” she said, as well as orchestrating a boot camp for students in order to model expectations.

The renewal process is familiar to Young. She was part of a similar transformation at Oak Grove under the leadership of former Principal Jenifer Richardson during a time when the elementary school earned numerous accolades, including being named National ESEA Distinguished School in 2017 and 2019; National Blue Ribbon School in 2019; listed as No. 9 on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 “Best Elementary Schools” in Missouri; and having achieved gold-level under PBIS for the first of consecutive years in 2021.

“One of the things Mrs. Richardson instilled in me is you have to invest in your teachers because your teachers will take care of your students,” Young recalled. “Let’s all start together, learn together and grow together during this new cycle.”

Young also plans to establish a campus beautification committee, since the school is in the process of upgrading its playground with new slides and other equipment, as well as remodeling its teachers’ lounge and kitchen. She looks forward to collaborating with incoming Principal Amanda Summers at the adjoining Early Childhood Center with over a decade of background teaching at the Kindergarten Center, only “separated by two doors,” Young noted.

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Cutline: Christy Young has been chosen to succeed Jessica Thurston, principal of the past several years, to lead the Poplar Bluff Kindergarten Center during a time of transition.