Principal Kyle Brewer brings an aura of respect, kindness and a lot of fun to staff and students at North Adams Elementary. (Photo provided)

Principal Kyle Brewer brings an aura of respect, kindness and a lot of fun to staff and students at North Adams Elementary. (Photo provided)

<p>Kyle Brewer’s “Elf on a Shelf” (right) plus another friendly guest brave the cold to greet the students arriving in the morning at North Adams Elementary. (Photo provided) </p>

Kyle Brewer’s “Elf on a Shelf” (right) plus another friendly guest brave the cold to greet the students arriving in the morning at North Adams Elementary. (Photo provided)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Respect and kindness. Two things the world could certainly use a lot more of, but if you need a big dose of both, look no further than North Adams Elementary School. Under the leadership of Principal Kyle Brewer and those before him, NAES is setting high standards for its students and operating on the philosophy that if you treat people with respect and kindness, that is what you will get in return. That becomes obvious as you see the smiles of the staff and students at NAES as they work under what one secretary says is “the best principal ever.”

Kyle Brewer was born in Maysville, Kentucky and grew up in West Union to parents Randy and Tammy Brewer, and has lived in West Union all his life. Brewer says he was considered a “town kid” in West Union but he also was able to enjoy the farm life at his grandparent’s house, where he says he stayed the majority of his childhood. He spent all of his years in the West Union school district and was a 2003 graduate of West Union High School, where he was heavily involved in sports- basketball, baseball, and a little cross-country he says.

“Mom and Dad were always hard workers,” says Brewer. “They lived off of doing things the right way and that’s kind of something that my brothers and I digested. Hard working, doing things right, with a lot of our childhood based on love. It’s always good to have parents that love and support you on everything, but if we were in the wrong, they were the first to tell us we were in the wrong. My Dad worked at Prather’s IGA for over 40 years and Mom worked as a secretary at Welded Wire Products in Manchester before moving to her job at the auditor’s office.”

As he traversed through his high school years, Brewer really wasn’t certain of his future plans, just knew that he wanted to go to college and do something helping people. It was a chance meeting that steered him towards his path in education.

“I had a junior high basketball coach, Shane Morgan, who was a fourth grade teacher at West Union and we had always been friends with Shane’s family, just wonderful people. I don’t recall why I was at West Union Elementary but I ran into Shane and we had a short visit and he just asked me how life was going. I told him that I knew I wanted to do something where I could help people and I remember him telling me that there was no better way to do that than being in education. That really hit home and then he was in that tragic car accident and I thought for me that was God’s way of saying, ‘Hey, you need to go into education’.”

Brewer eventually went to college at Shawnee State with his window still open as far as what he wanted to do.

“I had some phenomenal professors at Shawnee who really inspired me and I decided to go into education right from the beginning. It was just something by then that I knew I wanted to do. I did some field experiences at some of the Scioto County schools and it was a great experience for me and I knew that was where I needed to be.”

After his graduation from Shawnee, Brewer was offered a job in the Adams County Ohio Valley School District, as a first grade teacher at West Union Elementary. He also got into coaching basketball under Greg Grooms, something he always wanted to do, and then some things unfolded that left him tossed into the fire was the West Union varsity boys basketball head coach, a spot he held for two seasons.

“There was just something about that lower level of kids, and I think they need that male figure in their lives and I was fortunate enough to be able to do that early in my career,” said Brewer.

After being at WUES for two years, Brewer landed at Manchester Elementary in a third grade position, where he stayed for a couple of years, mentioning Jackie Cluxton as his main mentor as it was her position that he filled. “I learned so much material from Jackie in that first year at Manchester,” Brewer adds. At MES, he ended up back in a first grade position, with a “great group of people” in his words, calling it “just a great place to be.”

Now with an administrative degree, Brewer tells the story of how he ended up where he is now, principal of North Adams Elementary.

”I was literally on a family vacation and had not heard that the NAES position was open,” Brewer explained. “I get a phone call asking if I would be interested in interviewing for the assistant principal job at NAES where Deirdre Mills was the head principal. My wife (Heather) was from the North Adams district and I came in to interview without very high hopes because I didn’t really know what to expect. The interview went great and I got the phone call from Mrs. Mills and was offered the job, and I ended up saying yes. Mrs. Mills and I had a great run here, it was an exceptional team to be with and we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.”

Brewer stayed in that assistant principal role for seven years and two years ago made the jump up to head principal when Mills moved to Peebles Elementary. His philosophy as principal is pretty simple.

“You just have to treat people with respect,” Brewer explains. “At the end of the day, kindness and respect are the most important. I’ve learned in my many years of education, whether it’s kids or adults, if you treat them with respect you will get that in return.”

“The culture and climate here at North Adams Elementary is phenomenal,” says Brewer. “I’ve always said that if you can create a place where people want to come to work and students want to come to learn, that’s half the battle. Getting them in the building and creating this climate and culture is accepting and warming and we just operate like that. Mrs. Mills did a great job of getting that established and my goal was to continue to build upon that.”

“My moving up brought Allen (Seitz) aboard as the assistant principal and he was familiar with all we were doing and we have a great positive rapport and know how to work off of each other.”

“We’ve seen a continual decline in discipline referrals,” said Brewer. “Our teachers here are outstanding as far as going above and beyond and providing the extra effort and I think that goes a long way with our students and community. Our teachers know we will support them in any way that we can.”

“The mental health piece now in schools is crucial and often our work is more than just the textbooks. The first thin that you have to realize is that everyone that you come into contact with has a story. You have to take the time to understand where they’re coming from in order to meet them there and I think that is one of the components that makes this building so successful.”

“It’s having teachers, having staff, that truly care about kids,” Brewer continued. “I tell people that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It’s that piece that often times gets overlooked in school buildings but here it’s a staple. It’s what makes us go.”

If you are part of North Adams Elementary or follow the school on any social media, you will see that Brewer and his staff do have fun and pass that on to their students. One of those things is the various costumes that he and his staff will don on special occasions. You might see Brewer and his morning drop-off crew dressed as the Elf on the Shelf, which has become a yearly staple at the school. You might see Brewer dressed as a character from “Groundhog Day” and anything that might put a smile on the faces of the students as they exit the buses, setting the tone for the day, starting kids on a positive note with that first impression.

“In my interview, Mrs. Mills asked me if I was afraid of dressing up and getting out of my comfort zone,” Brewer said. “I answered ‘absolutely not.” It costs nothing to put a smile on a child’s face.”

Of course, the costumes might not have been as popular in Brewer’s own home as he chuckles and tells the story of his seven-year old daughter Piper and Talk Like a Pirate Day at the school. After reading the school’s announcements in the voice of a pirate, Brewer later that evening asked Piper if she had heard anything about a pirate being at school that day. His daughter simply answered, “Dad, sometimes I wish you’d act your age”.

“Sometimes the best ability that you can offer a student is your availability,” says Brewer. “We have staff here that will go above and beyond to make sure our students are taken care of in every way. It is so important to just provide kids with time, just time, and as I realized that it made be a better educator, better parent and better husband.”

“I think for me my philosophy here would be just to support people. We want to be in the trenches with our staff and with our students. It’s late nights and hard work but it’s worth it in the long run.”

Brewer is married to wife Heather with two children, the aforementioned Piper and their four-year old son Kipton. In their spare time, Brewer does a lot of mowing on his wife’s family farm, and he and his wife do a lot of fitness activities to stay active and you might now find him back in the coaching ranks, just at a much lower level.

“I have just been so blessed in this building with the people I work with and the community I work in,” says Brewer. “I don’t take that for granted one day out of the week. God has me right where he wants me.”