(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Principal Vicki Boone of West Marion Primary.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Bogalusa, La., on Aug. 25, 1969.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I attended Bogalusa High School, then went to Southeastern Louisiana University to get bachelor’s degree. About 10 years ago, I went back to school to get my master’s degree at USM in educational leadership.
Q: Where have you lived?
A: I lived in Bogalusa for 18 years, then I went to Hammond, La., for college. When I got married, I moved to Sandy Hook and have been there for 27 years.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I am the principal at West Marion Primary School. As the principal, I manage the day-to-day operations, and I go in and out of the classrooms working with the students, trying to put a behavioral system in place. In college I was taught if you have a good management system in place, then it minimizes discipline infractions, so we want to focus on the positive here. We have several things implemented that we are trying to build on. We have “Funtastic” planned, which is a nine-week event for students with no discipline referrals. Then we have a Trojan cart where we reward the kids that get in clubs — we have a gold, bronze and silver club. I’ve learned in my 26 years of experience that when we focus on the positive, it makes other children want to transform and make better choices. So my job here is to work with the students, teachers and parents on providing quality education with lots of opportunities for the kids not just academically, but socially as well.
Q: What was your first job? Most unusual job?
A: My first job was working in a jewelry store. I did that while I was in high school. In every job I’ve had, there’s been an unusual task, but not really an unusual job.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your career or life?
A: In my career, I would have to say Gale Knight. She was my principal at Columbia Primary School when I transferred to Mississippi. She was a great role model, had a positive attitude and she loved the kids. I’ll never forget her saying in front of the faculty one day that if you don’t love this job and love the children, then you might need to find a different job. Because teachers and educators don’t get into it for the money. They get into it because they love children. She just always had high expectations for herself and for others, and I look up to her. She’s always been special to me because of what she stood for as a strong Christian lady.
Q: What is your spouse’s name? What does he do for a living?
A: Shelby Boone. He is an electrician and works for Jones Company.
Q: Do you have any children?
A: I have two children that are my pride and joy. My daughter, Ashley, is 23 and is in her last semester at USM to get her master’s degree in speech pathology in December. Zack is 21 and he’s at Mississippi State studying chemical engineering.
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: I’m Italian so my favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs. I wanted to learn how to make my grandmother’s spaghetti and meatballs, and she would show me but I think she would sprinkle things in there when I turned my back because mine does not taste quite like her’s.
Q: Do you like to travel?
A: I do, but I haven’t been able to travel a lot over the past three years. My job has gone from working 10 months to 12 months, so it’s different. My favorite place would be the mountains — I love the Smoky Mountains — then the beach. My family is very important to me. Even though my children are 21 and 23, when they come home we try to get outdoors and do things together.
Q: What hobbies/activities do you like to do in your spare time?
A: My biggest outlet is yardwork; I love flower gardening. Just to be able to go outside and enjoy nature, I love it.
Q: What do you enjoy most about living and working in Columbia and Marion County?
A: Sandy Hook is very rural so I spend a lot of my time in Columbia. This school district is a part of Columbia even though it’s the county school district. Columbia is where we go for shopping. It’s a small community where people work together toward common goals. One thing I’ve really liked since I’ve been here in this school district is that we set goals when we have a need and people step up to get it done. It’s that camaraderie that we have because we’re a small community. When we have a hard time — being a small community — we’re there to pick people up. Being that it’s a small community, you can develop those relationships and it’s personal.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: I’d say my grandma, Josephine Sferra. She was just very special to me.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I would like to be remembered as a person who is caring. There’s a quote that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, and people’s feelings matter to me. We all have an outlook and perspective on things, but I believe we have to agree to disagree and work together. We have to be an empathetic listener because we have to be able to understand people. If we listen, we can have that understanding to create an environment where people are open and we can work together to reach common goals. My biggest things are that I want to remembered for is that I’m honest, a Christian and that I care about people.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
A: I would say having children. In life, I was a perfectionist that thought everything had to be done a certain way. Sometimes that’s not what life is all about. It made me become a better teacher when I had children as well because you have a different perspective of things, and have a different value of importance in life of the simple things.
Q: Would you rather read a good book or watch a good movie and why?
A: A good movie because I value family time and that’s something we can do together. When I’m reading a book, it’s tranquil and relaxing, but it’s more about me. Where if we go to dinner then to the movies, we’re doing things together and family time is important. We get so caught up in fast-paced life that we miss the simple things, and I value the relationships with my family.
— Joshua Campbell
