Brian Cox, the principal at Johnson Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, will be coming to the Badger state to take over as the new Verona Area High School principal for the 2023-24 school year.
Verona Area School District Superintendent Dr. Tremayne Clardy made the announcement about Cox accepting the position during the Verona Board of Education meeting on Monday, Jan. 23, at VAHS. Cox received the Milken Educator Award in 2019 and received a $25,000 check for being one of the nation’s top educators. He was one of 40 nationwide and the only one from Wyoming to win the award that some refer to as “the Oscar for educators.”
Cox will succeed Pam Hammen, the current VAHS principal whose resignation at the end of the school year was announced last fall.
“Mr. Cox is an equity-focused instructional leader who brings 21 years of experience in the field of education to the VAHS Principal role,” the VASD said in a news release Monday night.
Clardy said a panel with more than 51 people helped the district select Cox as the next principal.
Cox has served as a science teacher for students in grades 7-12, assistant principal at the high school level and principal at the middle and high school levels. He also has served as a wrestling, football, baseball coach and administrator of athletics.
He has superintendent, director of instruction and principal certifications. He has a master of arts in education with a focus on biology and chemistry. Cox has a bachelor’s in biology and chemistry from the University of Wyoming in 2002 and a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado in 2006.
Cox advocated and implemented the AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) framework at the middle school level in Wyoming. The AVID framework focuses not just on students taking tests, but on developing leadership skills.
