King welcomes new assistant principal Dennis Veal to the Crusader community.
Veal has been in education for about eight years. When his educational journey began, he was a paraprofessional in Detroit. Then, he became a teacher in Georgia and back to Detroit where he taught at Southeastern High School. Now, he is the administrator who oversees the ninth-grade academy. Veal’s plan is to change the way freshmen and their families view school.
“The main goal is to develop them socially, emotionally, and academically,” Veal said. “If we shift the attitudes of students, the community, and their parents then we can shift the scores.”
Veal works closely with counselor Anneatra Kaplan to make the transition from middle to high school easier. There is already a positive shift in behavior and grades.
“Mr. Veal brings a different set of skills,” Kaplan said. “He’s young, he’s innovative, he can build relationships with the students. We seem to have a different atmosphere now. He agrees that it doesn’t matter how academically intelligent you are that if your unable mentally and socially to be able to get pass those things your education really means nothing.”
Veal comes to King with a history of developing mentoring groups to help young people navigate through real-life situations. At Detroit Butzel Family Center, he started Higher Heights to equip youth with financial literacy. In Georgia, he started The Brotherhood which focused on racial awareness.
On Nov. 15, Veal will begin a new program at King to target student achievement through self-awareness, The Crusader Culture Community Class.
“This is a class specifically aimed at trying to plant some character traits and some positive behaviors in our children. So that, when we say I graduated from King, we already know what comes with that,” said Veal.
Veal feels no pressure coming in as a first-time administrator. He believes the position is perfect for him because of his work with young people.
“What I want to bring and what King already is known for is just a perfect marriage,” said Veal. “I would say I am intrinsically motivated. I’m driven. I would say, I’m charged with it. I didn’t choose education, it chose me.”
