Uselton is Desoto schools Administrator of Year

As principal of one of Mississippi’s largest high schools, Cory Uselton could be excused if he delegated the task of morning announcements. With some 1,600 students and 80-plus teachers to manage, it’s not like he needs to look for ways to fill his schedule.

But Uselton considers the task an important part of his routine at the Southaven high school he has led for four years because it helps ensure everyone stays abreast of what’s happening with everyone else on campus.

That, Uselton says, is what it takes to live up to the motto he has worked to instill in the DeSoto Central mindset: “When you play one of us, you play all of us.”

“We’re the only high school in the district that doesn’t have a community identity,” Uselton, who has been named DeSoto County Schools Administrator of the Year for 2013, explained as he reeled off the names of some of the district’s other high schools.

“There’s a Horn Lake, Hernando, Olive Branch, Southaven . . . but we (DeSoto Central) were carved out of existing school zones,” he said. “So I’ve come at it from the angle that we need to stick together and support one another.”

Developing a sense of unity and school pride has worked for the enthusiastic 44-year-old administrator, who becomes a candidate for Mississippi Administrator of the Year with his local selection.

Under his leadership, DeSoto Central High, which ranks as the sixthlargest high school in the state, has enjoyed rising test scores and is one of only eight Mississippi “star schools,” honoring high academic achievement, four years in a row.

In fact, Uselton likes to distribute a handout listing a long string of academic and extracurricular honors the school has earned.

“If someone is thinking about buying a house in our district and sees this, they know this is a school

that is concerned about doing it right,” Uselton said.

A Humboldt, Tenn., native, Uselton began his education career as assistant principal at Horn Lake High School from 2004 to 2007. From there, he became principal of Senatobia High School in neighboring Tate County from 2007 to 2009, then returned to DeSoto County to take the helm at DeSoto Central, a 9-12 campus off Getwell between Goodman and Church roads in one of the most densely populated areas of DeSoto County.

Uselton made high academic standards a priority, with the school having the highest number of students of any school in the district scoring 30 or above on ACT testing last fall. Twenty-seven had 30 or greater on testing conducted last September, October and December.

Supt. Milton Kuykendall noted both high test scores and the school’s graduation rate in his nomination letter. Kuykendall also praised Uselton’s dedication.

“Cory works 24-7 dealing with nearly 1,600 students in grades 9-12 and their parents,” Kuykendall said. “He has an unbelievable work ethic as well as talent to handle most any situation, always putting first what is best for his students.”

“It’s a balancing act,” Uselton said of academics. “You want to help those who are struggling, but also help those at the other end reach their potential.”

He said one of his proudest accomplishments as an educator was when a for- mer student in Senatobia was recently named the f irst African-American student body president at the University of Mississippi. She invited Uselton to a dinner where she cited his influence on shaping her leadership traits.

Other students praised him as well.

Former DeSoto Central student Tommy Allmon, who graduated last year and is freshman at Birmingham-Southern College, said Uselton made him feel like he was leaving a home, not a school.

“Personally, he showed me what it meant to be a man of integrity,” Allmon said. “He demanded respect, but it was easy to give because he gave the same respect to each student.”

But with the rewards come challenges, which Uselton said he continues to learn from each day.

“With 1,600 students, we’re a microcosm of society at large,” he said. “We deal with the same issues here as in society. You just have to prioritize and each day be prepared to set aside that day’s priorities if needed as more pressing issues come along.”

Seeing this year’s senior class graduate will be especially bittersweet, he noted, since it’s the first graduating class he has seen through all the way from ninth grade. Seeing this class progress through all four years of high school has been especially rewarding, he said, and causes him to pause when asked where he’d like to go next in his education career.

“I don’t know,” he said before stopping to think. “There’s no other high school I’d like to be principal of.”