Getting To Know Our Elementary Principal
"Did you know I was a model in New York?"
by Arden White
August 27, 2010
No, she wasn’t a model. But did you know Dr. Massey has three children, Larissa, Chase, and Morgan? Did you know she lives on a farm with cattle? What about the fact that she’s totally addicted to her blackberry? She’s one of the many who would much rather text than actually talk to a person. These are all things that Dr. Melissa Massey said would surprise the students and staff at Diamond.
Dr. Melissa Massey says she draws inspiration from her parents.
“They are so supportive and encouraging. They love me for who I am, and they taught me to work hard,” she said.
While her parents inspire her in these ways, her mother also inspired her to teach. Her mother is a teacher also. She grew up watching her mom love teaching and love the kids. She grew to love them too.
She was a twelve-year senior at Seneca and later began her college career at Crowder College. From there, she went to Missouri Southern State University, William Woods University, and then to the University of Arkansas, where she received her doctorate.
Dr. Massey taught at Fairland, Oklahoma, and at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School in Joplin, Missouri, and then she came to Diamond.
She likes teaching fifth grade the most because that’s mainly what she’s taught. But she loves teaching the older kids. She appreciates the questions and curiosity of an older student. She loves the younger kids too. She just really loves all kids in general.
Dr. Massey also loves to cook and has five dogs, a pit-bull, a lab, two corgis, and a mutt. She claims she comes off as being gruff, but really she is a softy at heart, especially when it comes to her husband. Not only is her husband a principal, but he taught Ag classes here in Diamond.
Her favorite thing is being a mom and then being a wife. She’s five foot ten and goes to Mexico every summer. When asked to describe herself in three words, she said, “Happy, Hard-working, and Loyal. I think everyone should do the three word thing and see if those words really describe them”.
With the end of the interview approaching rapidly, I asked, “If you had to live your life over again, what would you change?”
She replied, “I would change nothing. Everything that happens to you makes you the person you are. I love me.”
