A new school year brings new leadership for two Whitesboro schools. Josh Hammock, former Vice Principal of Whitesboro Middle School, will be the principal at Hayes Primary School. The position was left vacant by James Worley, who has been hired as the principal at Whitesboro Intermediate School.
Hammock grew up in Davis, OK, then graduated from Gunter. He played baseball for Murray State College before finishing his degree at Southeastern. His wife and her parents were all graduates of Whitesboro, so that was Hammock’s goal: find a teaching job in Whitesboro.
Hammock was hired to teach 5th grade math and coach middle school sports for WISD in 2008. He officially moved to Whitesboro Middle School to teach different grade levels of math and P.E. while coaching school sports. In 2015, he turned down a position at Blue Ridge because he wanted to keep his kids in WISD.
Around this same time, Southeastern was holding a cohort that met at the Grayson campus. Hammock enrolled in (and completed) an 18-month course to achieve his Master’s degree.
“I didn’t want to use it right away,” Hammock said, “but it was something I thought I might pursue eventually.”
In 2016, Hammock took a position as head baseball coach in Callisburg. He worked there for three years before moving back to Whitesboro as the boys middle school coordinator. He taught 8th grade math and assisted Coach Cole for two years before Covid threw a wrench in everyone’s plans.
As schools began making a comeback after a global pandemic, things began shifting at the middle school level. Assistant Principal Shannon Scoggins became the principal and Hammock was hired as Assistant Principal for the 2021-2022 school year.
“I love the opportunity of helping in a lot of areas, to help the teachers help the students,” Hammock said.
At the end of last school year, Hammock was hired for the Principal position at Hayes Primary School. He weighed carefully the differences between middle school and primary school students.
“At middle school, there’s more freedom. We have the blessing of a lot of growing and maturing in those years, and there are a lot of expectations of learning. The primary school is the foundational level of education. We get to be the ones to introduce these students to learning; to get them to learn how to learn and learn how to love to learn,” Hammock said. “I’m embracing those challenges as a blessing.”
Even before the school year has begun, Hammock has already noticed the different dynamic of a primary school.
“From the moment they arrive on campus, every minute has to be planned,” he said. “With older kids, you can count on them knowing how and when to get to their next class. That’s not the case with primary students. That’s something I’m having to wrap my brain around, planning out these detailed schedules where every minute of the day is calculated.”
Hammock’s wife manages an in-home daycare in Whitesboro. Their oldest child is a senior at the high school; their middle child is an 8th grader at the middle school; and their youngest is a 4th grader at the Intermediate School. With Hammock at the primary school, a member of their family is at every level of WISD this year.
“It’s a pretty special year for our family,” Hammock said.
Hammock is excited about the upcoming school year.
“I’m looking forward to seeing students learning at this level, and I’m excited to help foster their love for learning,” Hammock said. “It really fuels my flame for education.”
Hammock is taking over the position left vacant by James Worley, who was hired in June as Principal at Whitesboro Intermediate School. Worley had been the principal at Hayes for the past four years. Before that, he worked at the middle school as the head tennis coach.
“When I saw the position open at the intermediate school, I kept an eye on it for a couple of weeks,” Worley said. “When nobody I knew was putting their name in for the job, I started wondering what was going to happen to the kids I had been with the past few years.”
Worley thought and prayed over this dilemma before finally applying for the job.
“I really want to continue the great things these kids have been doing at the primary level,” Worley said. “This was a good opportunity to move with those kids and make sure they were taken care of. Hayes Primary is in great hands with Mr. Hammock.”
Although there are some differences between the campuses, Worley feels good about the transition to the intermediate school.
“I know the kids, I know the parents. I couldn’t be more excited,” he said.
This year, Whitesboro Intermediate School will house more people than ever. There are currently 470 students enrolled. That’s 30-40 more students than last year.
This marks Worley’s 17th year in education, working in areas from Tioga and Trenton to S&S and Gainesville. He was the manager at FedEx Ground until he was 30 years old.
“This is a really good place to be,” Worley said. “We’re raising well-rounded kids that are academically high-performing and will be future contributors to our district.”
Hammock and Worley were both in attendance at this year’s Meet the Teacher night, looking right at home at their respective campuses. Each is looking forward to a positive and successful school year.