David Christopher was hired as the incoming Boyle County High School principal, to take effect after June 30.

Current Principal Mark Wade will be the district’s new superintendent, as Superintendent Mike Lafavers is retiring. Christopher taught at Boyle County High School for 13 years as a business and marketing teacher.

He is currently the principal of Trailblazer Early College and Career Academy in Harrodsburg, which is a high-performing vocational school run by the state. The school serves students from Anderson and Mercer Counties, Burgin, Kentucky School for the Deaf, and Frankfort Independent. They serve about 400 students in total. Christopher’s last day there will be June 30.

Christopher is also currently the bass fishing team coach at BCHS, until June 30. Throughout the team’s 10 years, they operated without a budget from the district, and raised their own money. They recently bought a team fishing boat with money they raised and some help from the district. Christopher said he’ll still be involved in the team, as his son is a senior on the team.

Christopher said he pursued the principal job because he has a passion for the community and the school. He attended Boyle County schools from elementary to high school, and wants to carry on the academic, athletic, and arts excellence.

Mark Wade, who is the current BCHS principal, was involved in hiring Christopher as the new principal, and said he’s confident that Christopher will ensure students have fantastic experiences.

“David is really big on relationships and doing what is best for kids,” Wade said. “His experience at BCHS as a teacher and as a principal at a career and technical education center will be great assets to serving the students and staff in his new role.”

A major focus at Trailblazer Academy was dual credit, which Christopher said he hopes to push and implement at Boyle wherever possible. He’s also a proponent of vocational classes and AP classes.

“We want to make sure the whole student gets opportunities in all areas, because they’ve all got gifts, and we want to find those gifts and let them thrive in those areas,” Christopher said.

Some of his biggest priorities will be school safety, expanding on career and technical education, and performing arts. He said they could expand ways for students to learn things like welding, electric work, and manufacturing.

“Those are things that we can grow in an area of the school that maybe hasn’t had as much focus or emphasis before,” Christopher said.

Christopher helped increase dual credit enrollment at the Trailblazer Academy, and believes he can do the same for Boyle.

“Dual credit is a win for the student, it’s a win for the school, it’s a win for the family, from a cost standpoint; dual credit is a wonderful thing,” he said.

Christopher explained that he received two Strategic Excellence awards from the state for strategically working on dual credit, specifically working with industry leaders.

“One of the things I’m really big on is keeping your Chamber of Commerce in the loop, keeping industry leaders in the loop; they’re an integral part of the community just like the school system is, and I want to make sure that we’re working together toward a common goal to produce the best students for our workforce,” Christopher said.

The district got very high test scores in all schools on recent state testing. Christopher said they have to continue to be competitive, and continue to teach standards from the state effectively in order to get those high scores.

He also hopes to increase field trip opportunities and get kids out of the classroom more often.

Another priority for Christopher will be student mental health, as the pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues for many students.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge for us to continue to meet the needs of kids, and there’s no doubt that mental health is high on the radar,” Christopher said.

He said that in a big school with lots of personalities, there’s bound to be challenges and differing ideas, but he hopes everyone can work as a team toward the common goal of doing what’s best for kids.