Profiling the Principals

Profiling the Principals 

An Inside Look at Cal Young’s New Heads of Faculty

By: Adrienne White

Date: 01/15/25

Lively -- a word I would reserve specifically for Brian Young and Brandon Parks. If you had asked me about them prior to our interview, I’m not sure what I would’ve said. After all, I hadn’t had the pleasure of speaking with them in the past. But after our wonderful December exchange, I can assure you that the heads of our school are two funny, compassionate, and down-to-earth individuals with the primary goal of making our school a better place. 

This first became clear as I entered their office, where the two were waiting for me while tending to their own tasks -- Mr. Young signing Christmas cards and Mr. Parks on the computer. Though I was in fact late to the interview, there seemed to be no tension in this regard and the two seemed to be in quite pleasant mindsets. After the two wrapped up their duties and gathered around what I assumed to be some sort of conference table, my partner Olivia and I began the interview.

Q1: When did you first realize you wanted to work in the teaching industry, and what influenced this decision? 

BRIAN: Senior year of high school I wanted to be a dentist. I even went to dental camp. I had a teacher then that inspired me to become a Social Studies teacher. Senior year, I went to a kindergarten and helped out with kids. I ended up coaching football and basketball. I even taught history at high school in Roseburg. This is actually my sixteenth year as principal. 

BRANDON: I honestly didn’t know. I went to Sheldon, and senior year I talked to my friends and parents and ended up at Oregon State, engineering, which didn’t work out. I worked at Hertz car rentals. Didn’t work either. Then I went into coaching, which I enjoyed. Made me want to teach. So I volunteered teaching at Gilham, 4th and 5th grade. I loved it. But back in 2002 there weren't any jobs in Elementary. But Middle school, that was a possibility. I was a math teacher for 18 years which I really loved. This is my first time as assistant principal.

Q2: Did you have any other career opportunities that you passed up on before this one came along?

BRIAN: Well, aside from dentistry I didn’t have many. I was actually a UPS driver. My first job was mowing lawns. 

BRANDON: Actually, I got fired at one job. Late too many times to the Office Depot. You had to punch in a card. And if you were even a second late it counted. I had a bad habit -- that's actually why I try to lecture students about bad habits. But anyway, I got fired. I also worked at a golf driving range. Learned how to golf. Pick up the balls put in the machine. 

Q3: As of right now, do you feel pleased with what you’ve done so far in leading Cal Young?

BRIAN: I’d say we’re pretty excited about what’s happening at Cal Young. I think there are a lot of great student leaders. We’re actually working on a campaign called It's Not a Joke. It’ll mostly focus on bullying, and how some things people say really just aren’t jokes.

BRANDON: Definitely the same as what Mr. Young said. I’m really excited about where we’re going as a school. We have a pretty good staff. I’ve been in several schools that don’t have a lot of parental involvement, so Cal Young is a refresher. I’m having a good time.

Q4: Are there any things you wish to change about it in the future?

BRIAN: I’d really like to bring more activities here. I know we do have a track team, but it’d be nice to have a wider variety. Basketball, football, cheerleading, that kind of thing. Increasing clubs, too. We have some electives, like technology, but I’d like to bring in some CTE classes. And family involvement. We have activity nights here -- and apparently October’s dance was attended by about half the school -- but I feel like we could be doing more with those as well.

BRANDON: It’d definitely be fun to bring more sports back. We’re just trying to continue the trajectory for our culture. School is like one big family, and we might not agree with everyone, but we should still treat each other with kindness.

Q5: Outside of your daily tasks as principals, what other interests do you have?

BRIAN: I mean, I spend a lot of time with my family. One of my daughters -- she’s going to school to become a speech therapist -- and two sons. My one son, he’s actually in college. He wants to do something in sports product design. The other is a freshman at Lane who wants to go into business. 

BRANDON: I love college football. The ducks, you know. I go to a lot of college football games. I’m outside a lot, too. For hiking, hunting, and hanging with my family. I play video games with my son, too. I’m really close with my family.

Overall, both our primary and assistant principal have clearly proven their efficiency as new faculty members, and are clearly eager for what is to come throughout the following school year. Anything from the possibility of school sports teams to the new It's Not a Joke Campaign is to be looked forward to. And whether it concerns their personal growth as new members of our school, or growth of other students and faculty in their presence, I feel that our school is going to thrive with Mr. Young and Mr. Parks leading it.