Heads up for Harry is pleased to announce the appointment of Margaret Jones, as the new Executive Director of our growing organization!
For followers of Heads up for Harry, you may have had the privilege of meeting Margaret over the last year, where she has been serving as our Director of Programming. “Margaret has brought a tremendous amount of energy and growth to the organization, and we’re so excited to take this next step together,” says Chairman of the Board, Spencer Mitchell. “Her background in curriculum development and educator training is a perfect match for the organization as we continue to offer new programming to high school and college students and teachers. We felt this was the perfect time to expand Margaret’s role as our number of high school panels has more than doubled in the last year, and we are receiving new requests for longitudinal mental health programming in higher academic settings,” Mitchell says. Since Ms. Jones joined Heads up for Harry in mid-2021, programming has grown significantly. In 2022, Heads up for Harry has a target of delivering 12 mental health speaking events to high school and college age students (and we are more than ¾ of the way there!). Furthermore, Heads up for Harry has licensed an evidenced-based curriculum written by Ross Szabo, Wellness Director at the Geffen School at UCLA. The curriculum focuses on teaching participants a new vocabulary for mental health, how to build healthy coping mechanisms, utilizing stress in a productive manner, and more. HU4H program staff has also been certified to train teachers/adult leaders to implement the Behind Happy Faces curriculum. Topics for adults include: guidelines on using personal stories effectively within a mental health curriculum, a common language to normalize mental health education, and tailored details on the implementation of the curriculum within the context/culture of the specific organization.
In addition to continuing to grow our program offerings to support young adult mental health, Ms. Jones will now have the opportunity to lead the organization with a wider scope, including board support and growth, financial stewardship, and donor relationships.
Ms. Jones’ career includes 30+ years of teaching experience in public and private elementary grades and university teacher preparation courses. During her 10-year tenure at Georgia State University, she co-directed the Collaborative Master’s Program, an innovative approach to in-service teacher education emphasizing learner-centered and democratic educational practices. She has consulted with many schools and organizations around issues of constructivist teaching and teacher education, and has served as Principal at PK-8th independent schools in South Carolina and Georgia. Ms. Jones received her M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees in Elementary Education from Indiana University, with Curriculum Theory as her focus of study.
“Again, I’m so excited that Margaret wanted to take this next step with us, and I’m so grateful to her as well as our Board and donors who continue to support the organization through this next stage together,” Mitchell says.
