Who really is North’s new principal?
By Paige Eckley and LilyAnn Haight
Managing Editor; Editor-in-Chief
After graduating from high school with a 1.77 GPA, becoming a principal wasn’t the first thing people expected from Nain Muñoz.
Now, years later, his office is covered in his many degrees, pictures of his four children, and proof that he was a basketball coach at Redmond High. A picture of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi, also hangs on the wall next to his desk.
Muñoz, hired at the end of last school year as the new principal of North Eugene High School, began a career of working with teenagers while in college, taking time to help out at his local Boys and Girls Club. He’s taken on many roles – being an English teacher for 6 years, serving a combined 4 years as an assistant principal, running ASB (Associated Student Body), serving as a basketball coach, being the head of an academic intervention department, and being head principal for two other schools. Muñoz has made it clear that he wants to make a difference in students’ lives.
Though he had the opportunity to apply for the same job at South Eugene High School, he says he “wanted to be at North so students can … see that there are people that go through things and can still find a way to be successful in their life.”
Being from a single-mother home, the oldest sibling of four children, and a first-generation Mexican-American, Muñoz is able to understand the struggles facing many students at North Eugene High School. He applied for North Eugene High School specifically because he could see himself in many of its students.
“A lot of great things are happening at North already,” Muñoz says. But he sees things he wants to improve, as well.
A self-described lover of communication, Muñoz already has initiatives in place to improve things at NEHS. Before the school year began, he sent out a “principal’s letter” to students and families. This highlighted many of his new goals for this school year – addressing many things, most notably, what described as the school’s “atrocious attendance.”
According to Muñoz, 53% of our students were “chronically absent” last year– meaning their learning is being impacted by their absence, and their chances of graduating are lower than that of the other 47% of North’s students. New measures are being put in place this year that aim to lessen that 53%.
Muñoz believes this can be done in two ways – discipline, and understanding.
“I don’t know anybody who’s really successful in life that doesn’t have some sort of discipline in their life where they work hard at something,” Muñoz says.
He aims to change attendance issues by reinforcing policies already in place, but he also wants to bring another level of perception into play. Muñoz knows that “we, as a school, collectively have to get better. We have to support those who are kicking tail, and we have to prop them up. But also the other ones who are not doing so well, we have to help them do better.”
What does this mean for our students? It means the expectations at and around NEHS have changed, with a special focus on the school spirit displayed by the student body.
Olivia Froehlich, a council member on ASB, says, “We are already seeing more students attending things such as volleyball and football games. … Students are really bringing their all this year.”
This level of involvement is exactly what she and the rest of ASB want to see. Such a response has encouraged them to push for more and more opportunities for students. All they ask of you in return is to show up and be a part of North Eugene during its most exciting era yet.
This new concept could really change how we feel about school. It’s about all of us working together no matter what grade you are in, who you are, or what you believe — we are All In this together. Hopefully, this newly adopted culture will be a positive addition to this school year.
So, now that you know, are you All In?
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