by Luke Baldwin

Before Scott High School had Mrs. Amy Hale as its principal, it had Dr. Jacob Messer. He held that position for six years before departing for the principal position at the Boone Career and Technical Center, where he has worked for three years so far.

Edward Smith, Scott High School history teacher, praised the tenure of Messer.

“Oh, Mr. Messer, to me, is a stand up guy. He tells me how it is, always, you know, I think he honors people that work hard, ‘cause he’s a hard worker too,” Smith said.

Smith’s opinions towards Messer’s work ethic are reflected in Messer’s own views towards himself and his leadership.

“I feel like I view myself as a leader, as a passionate and hardworking leader,” Messer said. “If I’m at my house, if I’m at Kroger shopping, like, I’m always thinking about my job and my students and my staff and like, how can I help them more? How can I do more for them?”

Messer is generally praised by his students and staff, but looking beyond the current reality of his position, people, such as Smith, appear to already have ideas as to what he will be remembered for.

“…That’s what his legacy’s gonna be, was the fact that he was supportive, and he cares, and he knew the kids, understood the kids, what they wanted, strengths or weaknesses, what programs he could bring in, because they’re telling it.” Smith said.

Messer himself has his own ideas as to where he wants to take his future and his career, and his overall end goal of his career.

“I think for every good principle, you know, your overall end goal is probably to be superintendent one day. So, I think that would be something I aspire to, and the reason is, and I’ve said this about every step in my career, I’m not going to make a change just to make a change. I always want to keep climbing, and by climbing, I don’t mean like, oh, bigger things or more money. What I mean is, I want to be able to make a greater impact on students in my county, in my region, in my state.” Messer said.