Spears-Heading an Interview

By Elijah Hopkins, Senior Editor

Of all the LCHS administration, few are held at such a status as Mr. Spears. Over the Class of 2020’s four years at this school, he has remained one of the most consistent figures to lead and support us. However, I have found one critical flaw in our relationship with this man: we have little idea of who he truly is. We only really know the basic aspects of him: we know he is a man of few words, tall in stature, and a proud leader, but beyond that, not much else.

I was given the pleasure of being able to sit down with the man, and hopefully attain some information that would allow us to know more about the LCHS' principal. I met him in the hallway, requested an interview, and he asked me to meet him in his office. I walked down the hallway and into the front office, where Mr. Spears’ workplace is located. The room was dimly lit, but not in a menacing or uncomfortable way, but rather more calming and pacifying. Items dotted his walls, including two diplomas directed towards one Brian C. Spears, as well as various inspirational quotes, and children’s drawings placed on his bookshelf. I waited and admired the various items around the room, then Mr. Spears entered. He made an offhand comment about needing coffee then asked if I wanted anything to drink. I respectfully declined and we sat down at his table.

I began the interview with inquiring about why he began pursuing a career education. I had remembered in one instance Mr. Spears had said something about not originally wanting to work in that field, and wanted to delve deeper. He responded by saying he “originally wanted to play professional football” but claimed to not possess the necessary skills. Spears said his next step was to get a degree in public relations and business and work in the “front office of sports teams.” However, he began substitute teaching as well as coaching, and really found the place he believed he belonged. He finished off the question by saying that the main reason was to help people, and said, “I enjoy learning and I want to help others learn."

I asked what his goals were for each student to achieve. He hesitated for a moment to search for the right words, and proceeded to say, ¨The goals for each person to achieve would be whatever they want.¨ He says that it is his, as well as the whole school's job to guide them and allow them to discover what they want, as well as help themselves find the potential in themselves.

I wanted to further walk down memory lane with Mr. Spears, so I asked about his favorite memory at LCHS. He struggled to find a specific memory, failing to choose a singular moment. He finally settled down with an emotion or action students take towards him, rather than an event. Mr. Spears told me it was, ¨When people speak to me first.¨ He spoke about how he enjoys it when he knows students are comfortable talking to the adults as well as knowing they are here to help. It is not uncommon to find Mr. Spears standing in the hallway and greet any student he can. Just before we sat down, he had asked me to wait in his office so he could talk and make sure he is present for the students during class change.

To find more about a man, it is important to know his faults and where he has failed, so I asked him if he made any decisions he had regretted during his career. He had claimed to have made many mistakes, not just in his job, but in his life as well, but he did not seem to regret them. He then bestowed some wisdom upon me that every person needs to learn. He said he had heard this quote, saying, ¨Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.¨ He proceeded to discuss why there were so many motivational posters on the wall, and how it is important to learn from those failures, and use them to succeed in the future. He said that there, of course, would be things he would do differently and how he had done plenty of stupid things, but it had led him in the direction he is on now.

Now I wished to ask some questions that my classmates wanted to know. First, I asked what his favorite musical artist is. He paused for a moment and then said ¨it changes day-to-day.¨ He had then said he currently is really enjoying Lord Huron, which leads to one thing he regrets, as they were in Nashville recently, but he said he was too old to go to a concert on a Monday night. He also said Kings of Leon, as well as some of Lil Baby´s stuff. I also asked his middle name, but as I had discovered earlier by looking at his diploma´s, his middle name is actually Caycee, and his first name is Brian, which was probably one of the most surprising things that he had told me.

I have probably spent more time with Mr. Spears than most other people in this school, but it was quite surprising to learn all of this about him. His outlook on people is incredibly positive, and his desire to help others surpasses every other thing about him. He is a man who has a strong desire to make sure everybody is able to reach their fullest potential, as well as having excellent musical taste.