Mr. Timothy Panagos is widely known throughout Woodgrove and has been a part of our school’s community since its opening in 2010. In his final days as our Assistant Principal, Mr. Panagos shared his daily routine that he has honed during his 14 years at Woodgrove.
Panagos starts his day off early when he wakes up at 5:55 AM, before he embarks on his 59 mile, and almost 90 minute drive to Woodgrove. After talking with the staff and getting his coffee, he enjoys watching the wave of students enter the building. “Watching the students roll in, greet each other with hugs and high fives, fist bumps… that lets me know Woodgrove is ‘the place to be’ not just ‘a place to go’,” said Panagos, “when we opened in 2010, that is the one thing I wanted Woodgrove to become. A true community school where everyone knows your name and is happy to see you.”
After classes begin and Woodgrove falls into routine, Panagos finds himself meeting with his coworkers, “I really enjoy sitting down with Ms. Ebony Jackson and Ms. Christina Thompson. We get a chance to talk about school, our families, and how we can help students be successful.”
Following the morning procedures and meetings, Panagos can be seen during lunch shifts when he helps with clean up and checks in on students. Socializing with the students and teachers is the best part of the job, according to Panagos, “Lunch duty calls and that’s a good time for me to push the trash can around and say “Trash it up.” I use this time to meet new people, check on students I know and share in the Woodgrove experience by modeling the “Honor” part of “Work, Honor, Strive.”
Throughout a long career, Panagos has been mistaken for many things. According to him, he has been mistaken as a custodian, building engineer, and substitute teacher. A LoudounNow article published this year called him a school security officer. As one of Woodgrove’s assistant principals, Panagos is required to perform many different tasks such as handling some janitorial and lunch duties, as well as often being tasked with handing out discipline. Earlier in his career, Panagos says it was difficult to balance that with being as supportive and encouraging as possible. One day however, a student told him, “Mr. P, sometimes you are a cheerleader and sometimes you drop the hammer.”
“Now I try to explain that to students when they are in my office on ‘official business,’” said Panagos. Forming relationships and connections with students, and helping them succeed is the most important part of the job. “High school is really the last place on earth where a kid will have an entire community devoted to their success. Cheering them on when they put in the effort and holding them accountable when they make a poor choice. We are a microcosm of the real world, the only real difference is, here you always have a path to redemption and a chance for a ‘do over,’” shared Panagos.
Now, Panagos is approaching the next chapter of his life with an open mind. “I am not one to sit around and do nothing…‘The devil sits on an idle horse,’ or so they say,” stated Panagos. He plans to work on some projects around his house, and follow his son’s college lacrosse team. Panagos reflects on his time at Woodgrove, “I will miss the people, all of them. Students, staff, parents, that’s what this job is about anyways, people and relationships.”
