New assistant principal welcomed to Hawks Nest; Mock joins staff at NHHS

     After her previous job as vice principal at Aberdeen Middle School,  Ms. Erin Mock has joined North Harford High School as its newest administrator. 

     She explains she feels like she is working with mini adults who know how to walk around and behave rather than children. “I was excited to work with high schoolers over middle schoolers when I moved to the high school,” Mock said.   

     “Middle school to high school is a huge change in general, but my favorite thing is that the high schoolers don’t walk into the cafeteria throwing food like middle schoolers do,” Mock said. 

     “Understanding high school life is important. I went to the football game Friday[Sept 10] which was amazing,” Mock said. She explained she loved seeing the student pride and how much students get involved.

    She added that talking to the kids at lunch and getting a warm response to saying good morning are things she appreciates. Mock also enjoys athletics and the school spirit shown in the brief time she has been at the  school. 

     Hall duty, cafeteria duty, and observing teachers and kids are her main responsibilities, but she says her job does not stop just there. She works with students who have been breaking rules as well as upset parents. 

     “I wasn’t sure what to expect at all going from middle to high school, but I did expect students to work harder here since there is a purpose to pass classes to get out of high school,” Mock said. The community support has also come into play since she had heard nothing but good things from the community around North Harford. “The community assured me it would feel like home here,” Mock said. 

     Mock believes that it is important to get to know the kids you are working with to see why they might be doing what they are doing.     

     Mock attended an all-girls Catholic school for high school, “I spent quite a few times in the assistant principal’s office for violating the dress code, and sometimes my mouth got me in trouble,” Mock explained. She said there was not a lot of wiggle room when it came to dress code at her school, and she got dress-coded countless times for her socks or skirt.   

     “My high school vice principal was an old lady with a grey bun that sat on her head like a beehive, and she would walk in and just stare at you,” Mock said. She felt like her assistant principal did not care why she was in the office, and that she just wanted to give her a detention or an in-school suspension. Mock explained that she felt like she never wanted to get to know her as a person, she just wanted to punish her.   

     “I will always listen to you, 100 percent, just do not lie to me,” Mock says. She explains she will help you work through it if you are truthful about what you did. The administrator says she hopes to get to know students and get involved at school.