What is one thing you are going to miss about NA?

“I will miss the people, first let’s start with the students, they are the best, they come to school wanting to learn, work hard, and come from good families, they care about education, they want to better themselves, and they are genuinely just all around great kids, and it has been an honor and my privilege to try and do my very best for them but they really made it easy, I am also going to miss the teachers in this building, they are a tremendous group of people that work extremely hard, and are extremely dedicated, and I think they always go the extra mile for the kids and sometimes people don’t always recognize what they do but they are fantastic, and then I’m going to miss my office staff too because most people don’t know but they are your right and left arms and keep the place running smoothly”  

What is your funniest memory?  

“I was talking with some teachers and what would be my top five, there has been a lot of great times, a lot of more funny times and go times more than bad times”

What advice do you give to your successor?

The North Allegheny School District has recently announced that Mrs. Ewing (current assistant principal) will be taking the place of Dr. Hyland as Principal of North Allegheny Intermediate (NAI). When asked what advice he would give to Mrs. Ewing, Dr. Hyland responded, “Be herself because she is a fantastic person, and she is going to be a fabulous leader. I believe she has the thing that principals need the most and that is that she keeps kids first in the decision making process that she has.”

What are you most looking forward to at your new job?

“Well we have some challenges in my new district and I think maybe they need new leadership, and I think that there is a lot of potential in the district and I think they just need someone that can get people focused on harnessing the power that they have, and sometimes there are things in the news that aren’t always true, you can believe everything you believe, there are really good people over there that work hard with children, and I hope that we can duplicate the success that I have had at NA and I think if we do that the parents and students will be proud of their school and district”

When you were in high school what was your favorite subject in school?

“I was a history guy. I liked Social Studies. I actually became a Social Studies teacher before I was an administrator. I love politics and government.”  

Did you always know that you wanted to be a principal / superintendent / work in a school?

“No, I always thought I would be a teacher. When I started teaching, I started getting bored, and when you start to get bored, you need to do something different because then you are not giving your all. I knew I wanted to stay connected to kids, so I kept on moving up the chain.”

Favorite / Least favorite part of the job?

“My favorite part of the job: I like standing out in the mornings and saying hi and greeting the kids.” he added, “I’m really terrible with names, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like interacting with the kids and saying hi. I also hear so much; kids just say whatever is on their minds, and I pick up so much information about what’s going on in school. So, I love being out there greeting the kids as they walk in. I’m going to miss that, and I hope I can continue to build connections with kids in my new job. The least favorite part is when you have to discipline kids because they make bad decisions, but you know that sometimes it’s in their long-term interest and it keeps the school moving in the right direction. I hated disciplining kids, but I knew it was one of those necessary evils .”

Do you have a favorite meal/restaurant?

“My kids always talk about this: if it was your last day on Earth, where would you go, what restaurant would you go to? Mine would probably be Morton’s and I would go with: a porterhouse steak with a huge baked potato topped with lots of butter, sour cream, bacon, and cheese. “

What is your favorite vacation spot?

“So my family goes down to Hilton head it’s my favorite since I’m there with all of my family, we have some pretty interesting discussions in our family. Democrats against Republicans”

Any (usual or unusual) hobbies you have outside of school?

“I like to golf. I’m not very good, but I like to golf.”