Straightening his glasses, he approaches his assigned position and awaits the influx of teenagers to surround him, ready to greet each of them with a cheerful “Good morning.”

New sophomore principal David Lee’s began his career in education in smaller districts, but despite the size of his working environments, he is not without experience.

“I worked at Redwater last year, and before that I worked at Paul Pewitt and the Omaha Naples area,” Lee said. “And before that I worked at Hooks— I was a science teacher there for six years.”

Although Lee is primarily accustomed to working in more modest-sized schools, the transition to a school of over 1,800 students, was not all that difficult.

“Actually [adjusting] has been a lot smoother than I thought it would be,” Lee said. “So far, Texas High has been a lot smoother than it was at the two smaller schools I was at.”

Despite the ease of his assimilation into a new school, there are still some things that Lee is not used to yet.

“Everybody thinks I’m strange here because very morning and every afternoon I say ‘good morning’ to everyone I see,” Lee said. “I have people look at me like I’m a little crazy, but that’s just one of the things I do.”

Lee hopes that students this year find him both approachable and agreeable despite his sometimes gruff exterior.

“I know I don’t smile very much unless I’m interacting with someone one-on-one, and then I tend to smile,” Lee said. “It’s not a purposeful thing— it’s just the way I am. But I want students to know that I am here for them.”

Although he has many new objectives set in place as principal, Lee’s main aspiration for his career is to focus on the students completely and see them prosper.

“I hope to be a part of a great team that is going to make 100 percent of our student body successful,” Lee said. “Preparing students for life after they get out of high school is my number one goal.”