Jessica Patrick will take over as the principal of Douglas and Lincoln Elementary Schools in Clinton in a few weeks and is excited to be in Clinton.

Patrick was in the Maroa-Forsyth school district before coming to Clinton. She calls becoming a teacher and now an administrator in Clinton a 'happy accident'.

What was interesting about Patrick's journey to Clinton is she applied to be the assistant principal at Clinton Junior High School but she admits that was not a good fit, however, Sacha Young at Clinton Elementary School saw a fit for her in the building and reached out and recruited her to Clinton before Patrick applied for the principal job at Douglas and Lincoln Schools.

For Patrick, she is passionate about making sure kids can read and have books to further those reading skills. She hopes to develop a passion for reading in kids and further efforts to do that. 

Patrick says becoming a principal was never really on her radar but during COVID, she started to be drawn to leadership roles and that is what opened the door to her becoming an administrator.