After 26 years in education, Greg Welsh, one of five finalists for Wake County Assistant Principal of the Year, has seen plenty of changes. While the opportunities and the world have changed, Welsh said, the students are pretty much the same. Another constant is Welsh's commitment to help them graduate.

As the assistant principal of instruction, Welsh is the mastermind behind the schedule, placing Panther Creek's 2,400 students in classes that best suit their needs. He monitors seniors so they stay on track to graduate. He also hires teachers, guides the School Improvement Team and the Intervention Team.

Q: What is your teaching background, and how do you use those experiences to support the teachers at Panther Creek?

A: I was trained as a biology teacher, and I started out at Athens Drive High School. I taught all levels of biology for 20 years. I've also served as a soccer coach and athletic director. I helped open Green Hope High School and worked as athletic director there for 11 years. I've been assistant principal at Panther Creek since it opened.

In my interactions with teachers, I keep in mind that everyone has his or her own way of working with students. It might not be the style I would use, but I try not to influence them on style.

Q: How do you help the highest number of students graduate?

A: We do a lot with our Intervention Team.... We target kids who are struggling and try to help those kids. We try to target them early enough on, especially ninth-graders, as they make the transition into high school.

We have found that once they make that transition successfully, they keep going to graduation.

Q: Once you have created your master schedule and tried to accommodate the students' needs, how do you keep track of at-risk students and help them succeed?

A: We use data as much as we can. Before they even get to our campus, we look at the rising ninth-graders and their EOG data going back a few years. Once we've targeted the students who may be at-risk, we work together as a team to create a purposeful schedule.

We keep a close watch on these students and follow the computerized grading system to get a handle on how they're doing.

Q: What do you mean by a "purposeful schedule?"

A: For example, if we see that a ninth-grade student might struggle, we may push his or her Social Studies requirement back a year so that there is one less core class that they have to worry about the first year in high school.

We want them to have more time to acclimate to our school. It comes down to looking at the students as individuals.