New North Harrison Superintendent Mike Tipton promised that he would communicate transparently to patrons and always listen to what people had to say regarding the school. He grew up in Macon and his Ag and FFA teacher, Mr. Coulson, had been from North Harrison. He thought that he wanted to be an Ag and FFA teacher when he went to Northwest, but soon switched to Social Studies.
Mr. Tipton taught at North Harrison for two years following graduation, and was an assistant coach for the 2003-04 girls basketball team that was 24-3 and lost in overtime to Worth County in district finals. “We couldn’t do anything with Charlea Lewis protecting the paint,” he recalled. But he still has relationships with some of the players from that team.
He is the first person in his family to complete college; his mother and his grandfather were constantly pushing him to go to college and make something of himself. But Mr. Tipton said that he never thought he would become an administrator.
But as he grew into the role at Cainsville last year, Mr. Tipton found that he enjoyed helping teachers to make their jobs easier. He said he enjoyed his time the first time at North Harrison. “Eagleville, Blythedale, and Hatfield always do a good job coming out and supporting the kids.”
His goal is to listen to and understand the needs of staff and students, advocate for more federal and state funding, and get students ready for life after school, whether it is entering the workforce, tech school, or college.
One of the biggest strengths of the school, Mr. Tipton said, was the fact that so many people come back to Eagleville. One North Harrison grad who came back home, Kara (Gibson) Smith, now works at the school and does a great job keeping track of everyone who graduated from the school.
After leaving Eagleville, Mr. Tipton went to Trenton where he was in ministry for a while, then spent three years at Tri-County and then Gallatin, where he became an athletic director and first got a feel for the administrative side.
He thought he wanted to go into full-time ministry, but then Princeton came calling looking for a science teacher for high school. He thought he was done after a year, but then Princeton needed a science teacher for junior high and asked him to come back for another year. He hit it off at Princeton, where he currently lives; his son will be a sophomore at Princeton and his daughter is now attending UMKC. He is married to Melanie. He sought to retire again from teaching, but then Cainsville came calling looking for a principal. He served there until the superintendent position opened up at North Harrison.
Mr. Tipton will have some big shoes to fill following Dr. Ethan Sickels, who successfully passed a levy to put the school on a more solid financial footing. It was their first levy increase in over 40 years. “Dr. Sickels was phenomenal,” said Mr. Tipton about his predecessor. “He had everything ready for me so I could just step in.” They still talk regularly. “He came here yesterday for two hours to show me some of the ropes,” said Mr. Tipton.
One of the biggest financial challenges this year comes from the uncertainty in federal funding; President Donald Trump signed an order abolishing the US Department of Education and another one freezing federal funding for certain title programs. While the state passed a school-friendly budget, Mr. Tipton said the school took a $20,000 hit from the loss of Title funding that gives students extra math and reading help. Other area schools like Ridgeway and Cainsville were hit harder because they offered after-school care that was federally funded. He said the full effects would be felt in the 2026-27 school year.
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