Tina Antley: Educator Extraordinaire

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“You know we say this all the time and you hear this all the time, but it really is true: Conway really is a good school district to work in.” — Tina Antley

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Mayor Tab Townsell presents Tina Antley a key to the city.

In a surprise presentation, Mayor Tab Townsell proclaims April 28th, 2009 as Tina Antley Day in Conway and presented her with a key to the City. Tina Antley is the recipient of the first annual Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year Award for the state of Arkansas, awarded by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators after nomination by Jim Stone Elementary Principal, Mark Lewis.
Student teaching at the old Middle School on Prince Street was the first of Tina Antley’s many educational opportunities. Now, she juggles two Assistant Principal positions and feels this is as normal as life has been lately. Tina has been an educator for almost 30 years. And for many of those years, she also continued to be a student. A graduate of UCA, Tina holds a BSE in Speech Pathology with a minor in Special Education, a Masters in Speech Pathology, and the equivalent of a Masters in Educational Administration. More recently, Antley has been attending Saturday classes in a doctorate program in Educational Leadership at the U of A in Fayetteville.
Tina met her husband, Greg, while on a Missionary Baptist Student Fellowship Mission trip to Montana. A year later, when they were married, she moved to Montana and began teaching Special Education in the Lima School District, a district of about 120 students. Her next assignment produced a drastic change. Moving with her husband to Longview, Texas, she worked in the Longview Independent School District, a district with over 100,000 students. Antley taught Special Education there until giving birth to twins, Gregory and Christina, in 1987.
Returning to the Conway Public School District in 1993 as a Speech Therapist, she focused on furthering her education and increasing her educational opportunities. In 2004, Antley became the Assistant Principal of Jim Stone Elementary School and served in that position full time until the fall of 2008. Then, Conway Public School District budget problems created a staffing change. Her job responsibilities were redefined as “split” as she became a part time assistant principal at two schools, Jim Stone Elementary School and Theodore Jones Elementary School. Just when Tina had settled into this arrangement, change was again on the horizon.
Due to family illness, Mark Lewis, Principal at Jim Stone Elementary School took an extended leave of absence. During his absence, Tina filled in as necessary to fulfill the role of Principal and Assistant Principal at Jim Stone Elementary School. Antley stresses that, “everywhere she’s worked she’s been surrounded by good people who spent time mentoring her and prepping her for situations such as this.” She was ready for this challenge because of all the wonderful people she has worked with over the years. During this time, Antley acquired invaluable experience by dealing with crises and drama such as snow days, a bomb threat, staffing issues, and 911 calls. She gained confidence in managing these situations one day at a time. From this experience she knows she can handle the duties of principal one day, which is her goal.
Antley feels that special kudos go to Mark Lewis for stepping outside the box and taking a chance on her. Most Assistant Principal positions go to those in the teaching field, not those in the speech pathology field.
Tina believes the 2009 -2010 school year promises to be more normal. With her doctorate program all but finished, Mrs. Antley will return to Jim Stone Elementary as part time assistant principal as well as to Theodore Jones Elementary as part time assistant principal. “This is as normal as it gets”, Tina stated.
The biggest challenge with her split responsibilities is continuity. Whether she is scheduled to do a 5-day split or an every other day schedule, her continuity is fragmented. She likes being a part of the action of the school day, but with the split schedule, she feels as though pieces of the puzzle are missing. Another challenge is remembering over 900 staff members and children’s names instead of just half that much if she was holding only one position. There is no good solution to this problem with the current economic situation.
But regardless of the challenge, Mrs. Antley stated, “ you know we say this all the time and you hear this all the time, but it really is true: Conway really is a good school district to work in.”