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EDWARDSVILLE – Jason Henderson has 25 years of experience in education as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and now he will add superintendent to his various titles.
Henderson, presently the Triad Community United School District 2 assistant superintendent, was announced Tuesday afternoon as the new Edwardsville School District 7 superintendent.
“I am very humbled by the confidence you have shown me,” Henderson told a group gathered at the special Edwardsville School Board meeting Thursday afternoon at Woodland School. “With all the expressions I have received over the last couple weeks from people in the community, I am thankful. I hope the story isn’t about me for very much longer. I want the story to be what we can do to help move the district forward. I am going to come in and listen, build relationships and work hard to get better every single day. It is not going to be me, but it will be everybody who helps move the district to the next level. I am very excited about the challenges moving forward.”
Henderson said he is more than excited about the opportunity to lead a school district that is considered one of the best in the state and also the country for its size.
“Edwardsville certainly has a premier reputation and has the ability to be a leader in both the area and state level,” he said. “I will start July 1, but I will be visible in the district the next three months.”
Henderson said he wants the transition to be smooth, so he is going to do his homework in the next 90 days and meet as many people as he can before officially beginning the new role.
“I went on a district tour recently and met a lot of people,” he said. “My plan is to sit and talk to as many people as I can and listen to what they have to say.” He said he will formulate his own plan after the conversations with administrators, the community, teachers, and students.
Henderson said if he had any perfect way to describe his style in regard to education, it was always putting students first.
“My whole philosophy about education is everything is built on relationships between the students, teachers, and administrators,” he said. “It is all about relationships. There are many great things going on in Edwardsville, but I will always say you can strive to make improvements.”
The incoming superintendent said he has a lot of passion in the area of technology and he wants to engage the students in that.
“Putting technology in teachers and students’ hands is a vital part of education today,” he said. “That is something I am going to push everyone on. I have been part of a team that worked on this at Triad. The key is teaching teachers how to use technology and how to engage the student. I am proud of what Triad has accomplished in that area.”
Henderson said he understands Edwardsville’s strong tradition in athletics and plans to be extremely supportive to staff in that area.
“I started as a women’s tennis coach,” he said. “I understand athletics is a very important part of the community. There is a lot of community pride that comes from athletics and it is very important.”
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