MACON, Ga. — It's only been a few days since Dan Sims became sole finalist for Bibb County's superintendent job. He's already put in his time learning the schools and the community.
Sims is an associate superintendent in Atlanta's public schools and he was back in town Monday.
He says he's visited 38 schools in the district the past few months, and he is excited to get to know the community better.
"I do not want to only be a superintendent of the district, I want to be a superintendent of the community,” Dan Sims says.
Dan Sims has been in education for 27 years. He’s a three-time graduate of Georgia State University and of the Urban Superintendents Academy at USC. He's ready to use those skills in Bibb County.
"I'm excited in coming and applying my personality, applying my coaching and strategic development abilities to the people of this district, so that we can do the best job for every single student and every single family,” he says.
Sims' action plan on how he wants to support and add to the district is called #BuiltForBibb. He wants to get every employee and parent working for the students.
"We'll take it upon ourselves to ensure that everybody has what they need based on the needs we've identified student-by-student, classroom-by-classroom, so that what we do as an organization is not just 'pie-in-the-sky.. It's directly aligned to the needs we've identified for every single student,” he says.
Sims says his inspiration for education comes from his own life. He has a family and is a 23-year cancer survivor. He says it's taught him about humanity.
"One of the things I've tried to do since day one is to restore the humanity in schooling. Since human beings is the greatest resource that we have access to through our students, through our community, and through the people who work for the school system,” he says.
Sims wants people to know that he is committed to connecting with the community and is moving in a positive direction, "And most importantly, that our students are having a joyful, rich experience that gets them to the place they now identify who they are, and can make a good decision about who they want to be for the rest of their lives,” he says.
Sims says this is his tenth time visiting the school district since he first applied for the superintendent job. He already has a barber and his favorite places to eat in Bibb County.
Curtis Jones steps down at the end of this school year.