Dragon pride leads Powell to principal role

The phrase “once a Dragon, always a Dragon” is more true for some Holyoke High School graduates than others. It’s especially true for Angie Powell.

The 2000 HHS grad not only returned to her alma mater to teach — she’s now stepped into the role of Holyoke JR/SR High School principal, and she has more Dragon pride than ever.

“I’m extremely proud to be a Dragon,” said Powell. Being a Holyoke alum gives her a unique perspective as she transitions into the principal position.

After being born and raised in Holyoke, seeing the school district thrive is important to Powell. “It’s given me so much over the years,” she said, and now she wants to be able to contribute something back to the school.

Powell always knew she wanted to go into the education profession, and she got an extra boost of encouragement from role model and teacher Karen Crocker. Following HHS, Powell earned an Associate of Arts degree with a focus on pre-education from Northeastern Junior College in 2002.

After student teaching with Jerry Baum at HHS in the spring of 2004, Powell graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in secondary education.

She spent one year teaching English in Otis before landing an English job in Holyoke. After many years in that position, Powell embraced an opportunity to become the Holyoke JR/SR High counselor in 2014.

Powell has since earned her Master of Education degree in school counseling from Lamar University in Texas in 2016. And she’s currently working on her principal’s certificate from the same institution.

After working closely with Superintendent Kyle Stumpf and elementary Principal Andrea Kammer, Powell realized she wanted to move into the principal role. She said she’s excited to join Stumpf and Kammer as a collaborative team.

“I think I can contribute to the continuation of the good things our school is doing,” said Powell, noting how excited she is to work in a different way than she has before.

“We have great kids and great staff here,” she said.

Powell recognizes that in this time of COVID-19, school will look different and might be challenging along the way. But she emphasized that Holyoke School District staff members really want to be back in school with the students. “We are so excited we can start our school year with in-person learning,” she said.

She’s also particularly excited about Holyoke’s visible learning initiative as well as redesigning the JR/SR high library into a Center of Innovation.

Acknowledging that it takes a village to raise a child, Powell welcomes support from the community. “I’m always here. I’m willing to listen.”

She encourages people to contact her with comments, concerns and celebrations. She can be reached at 970-854-2284 or powellan@hcosd.org.

“I’m looking forward to what we can do together,” said Powell.

She and her husband, Aaron, own a seed business and also work on the family farm. Their two sons, Mason, 13, and Riley, 12, are the fourth generation in the family to attend Holyoke schools.

Powell also stays active with the East Phillips County Hospital District board, First Baptist Church and family activities.

“We are genuinely invested in this community and this school,” she said.