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Schools

Former Bowie VP Becomes Principal

Dr. Drewana Bey served as Bowie High School's vice principal for five years before becoming principal.

Dr. Drewana Bey is a native of Prince George’s County. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1998, her master’s degree from Trinity University in Washington, D.C., in 2004 and her doctorate from Bowie State University in 2010. Bey served as ’s vice principal for the past five years.

Q: What made you want to go into education?

Bey: It’s funny because when I went to college, I had no interest [in teaching]. … I actually wanted to go to pharmacy school. I graduated from college and realized pharmacy school is pretty expensive, so I needed a job prior to just going to pharmacy school. … I figured, OK, I could be a substitute teacher for a few days out of the week, put some money away and then go to pharmacy school. When I went to put in an application and interview, I didn’t realize I was actually interviewing for a teaching position. I was 22, 23 and said, “Sure I’ll do it,” not realizing what it was all about. But what is always so interesting when I reflect back on it, on my first day in front of the kids, I just knew that was what I was supposed to do. Pharmacy school just kind of flew out the window.

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Q: What do you miss most about teaching?

Bey: I would say that opportunity every teacher should have … that “ah-ha” moment that a kid has. … I miss that because I think, as a teacher, that’s what drives you to continue. …

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I like to interact with the kids the most because that keeps you focused on why you’re here. The further you get away from interacting with children, you kind of lose touch of what the whole purpose is. I’m trying to keep that balance, make sure I’m in constant interaction with the kids. … So they know, yeah I’m the principal now, but I’m still here for you.

Q: What do you like about being an administrator?

Bey: As administrator, I feel as though you have more opportunities to touch a larger number of kids. … As an administrator, you’re in a position to interact with more children, more than just a subject area. You can interact with them on another level, like their future, what their plans are. … You have more of an opportunity to teach the whole child, not just focusing on biology for 45 minutes.

Q: At the Meet and Greet, you talked about five goals for the school year. Which ones are most important to you?

Bey: Of the five, high student achievement. We want to make sure our students are successful and able to move forward, able to navigate once they leave high school. As I stated before, customer service and professionalism are very, very big for me. … We serve our community, and we have to look at what we do as service, and we need to provide the best service that we can.

Q: At the Meet and Greet, many parents said they were sad to see former principal Jane Spence leave. What did you learn from her?

Bey: The great thing about my experience being here when Ms. Spence was that she was a first-year principal. It kind of was an opportunity to grow and learn together. That was very powerful. She was great. I learned so much from her in terms of accountability. I learned so much from her in terms of instructional programs, how to make sure we continue to move forward and not get stagnant. She modeled what leadership looked like every day. As far as training, I got the best in terms of that for four years.

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