Superintendent Dr. David Young has named three Abilene ISD educators to new administrative roles for the upcoming 2019-20 school year.
- Del Van Cox, the head football coach and athletic coordinator at Abilene High School, will be the next AISD Assistant Director of Athletics.
- Michele Josselet, currently the instructional specialist at Craig Middle School, has been tabbed as the new principal at Jackson Elementary School.
- Chad Drake, instructional specialist at Mann Middle School, will become the principal at Dyess Elementary School.
Cox has been a member of the Abilene High coaching staff since 1996 and has been head football coach for the last four years. He takes over for Chuck Griffin, who last month accepted the job of athletic coordinator and head football coach at Georgetown. Cox has been a teacher/coach for 27 years.
Josselet and Drake are taking over for two principals who are retiring at the end of the current school year – Deb Hollingsworth at Jackson and Michael Newton at Dyess.
Josselet has been Craig’s instructional specialist since 2017 and previously taught at Thomas Elementary, Dyess Elementary and Clack Middle School. She began her career in 2000 in Anson.
Drake, who returned to his hometown to join AISD in 2017, previously worked as an administrator and teacher in Lubbock ISD. He has been an assistant principal and instructional specialist the past two years at Mann Middle School and is a former Teach for America corps member who worked two years in New York, NY, public schools.
Newton’s retirement closes out a 43-year career with AISD. He was a teacher and administrator at Cooper High School for 28 years before becoming an assistant principal at Clack and Madison middle schools. He has been the leader at Dyess Elementary for 14 years.
Hollingsworth became principal of Jackson Elementary in 2016 and has been with AISD since 1994. Prior to becoming principal, she was Jackson’s instructional coordinator for four years and a teacher for 18 years at Bonham Elementary.
