No Stopping Her

For C.D. Hylton High School Principal Carolyn Custard, there’s no reward like the gratitude of her students.

Although it was disrupted by the snowstorm that canceled several days of school, Hylton designated last week Principal Appreciation Week to show its gratitude to Custard, who is in her seventh year at Hylton, and the other administrators.

The daughter of two educators, Custard always knew she wanted to be a teacher.  As the oldest of four children, she would play school with her younger siblings.

Her seventh grade teacher, Juanita Bailey, inspired her as the kind of teacher she wanted to emulate. Bailey wasn’t only concerned with the students’ performance in class, Custard said, but also with their personal lives. “She cared about us,” Custard said. “She just knew us and connected with us, and I just thought, man, that’s awesome. That’s the kind of teacher and educator I want to be one day.”

Custard carries that inspiration with her every day into her responsibilities leading a school of about 2,200 high school students. Custard says she has a strong instructional focus and high expectations for her students, but she believes a good learning environment requires a positive, safe and welcoming culture.

Engaging and rewarding students is important to Custard, and she strives to find creative ways to do it. She likes to do things like having a dinner at a restaurant for students who get all A's. Custard is always looking for restaurants that will give the school a special deal so she can squeeze those trips into the school’s limited finances. “I don’t want budget restraints or different things happening to stop me from recognizing kids for excellence,” Custard said.

When it comes to helping students, Custard doesn’t want anything to stop her, period. Focusing on helping students graduate on time, she says, forces her to come up with different ideas to address the needs of all students.

For instance, the school uses an online instructional software called NovaNET that helps students recover credits. Custard said that some students do not have computers at home, so in order to ensure that they can take advantage of NovaNET, she has worked to make it available during each period with teachers available to help them. “We have to make sure that we provide opportunities and resources to support [the students],” she said.

Custard strives to make Hylton a family environment, and that has come back to benefit her. Three years ago, her son Desi, then 23 years old, became extremely ill. Doctors warned her that he might not live through the night. “It was devastating,” Custard said. “The love and support that I got from Hylton, along with my family, was just overwhelming, and it made me want to work even harder to support others.”

That family environment and the appreciation of her students is what makes it all worth it for Custard. “When they say thanks, when little things make a difference to them, and when I see them excel, that is just worth it all. That’s worth all the challenges, that’s worth all the budget cuts,” she said.

“They are first. They are why I am here.”