New principal reflects on hiring
For new Greencastle Principal Randy Corn, his hiring at GHS may seem somewhat fortuitous. The current Brownsburg High School assistant principal said when he began considering a move to another school last fall, Greencastle topped his list of choices.
At that time, however, the job was not open. Corn was simply making a list of places he would like to go, so his selection by the GCSC board was that much sweeter.
"When I was making a list, what I was looking at were schools that were between 600 and 1,200 students, schools that were high achieving and schools that were in a community that really supported the school. And Greencastle was the number one on my list," Corn said.
But it wasn't simply the school that caught his attention; it was the community in general.
"Many years ago, when we first moved out to Amo, my wife was working at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, so we would come here to Greencastle from time to time to do a little shopping," Corn said. "We always thought it was just a beautiful little community, and we just thought it was great. And of course, DePauw is here. We'd bring our sons out here for band competitions because my boys were both musicians.
"We just loved it, and I always thought it was a fantastic community," he added.
Corn comes to GHS after 25 years at BHS, the first 17 of which he taught English.
"I taught predominantly American literature, which meant the research paper, so I really like that type of work. I was a composition instructor primarly," Corn said.
In his time as an administrator, he has continued to focus heavily on curriculum.
"I was the academic assistant principal focusing predominantly on professional development and instruction, curriculum development, textbook adoption and those sorts of things," Corn said. "Also, student activities were a very important specialty of mine."
Corn's wife Cindie is also in education as an instructional assistant at Cascade High School.
"She's been for 13 years. She's worked with helping kids pass the GQE, the state test so they can graduate. I've walked through malls and seen big, huge guys come over to my wife and go, 'Mrs. Corn!' and bend down and give her a hug because she's helped them so much," Corn said.
The couple has been married for 25 years and have two sons. Their older son is studying journalism and communication at ISU. Their younger son is a jazz guitarist.