WEIS Radio News was present in the County Courthouse as newly elected Cherokee County Superintendent of Education Mike Welsh was sworn-in on Monday morning.

Afterwards, Superintendent Welsh spoke to those gathered,

He closed with this statement:

Over 4,000 voters turned out to cast their ballots locally in the Republican Primary run-off election, with Welsh defeating Andrew ‘Andy’ Jones in a tight race.  Superintendent Mitchell Guice had chosen not to run again, instead opting to retire at the end of his term.

You can hear all of the comments made by Superintendent Welsh following the swearing-in ceremony on our news site at weisradio.co; the entire event is on the WEIS Radio Facebook page as well.

About Mike Welsh

Mike began his career 29 years ago as a High School Math Teacher; he has been an assistant football coach, a head basketball coach, club sponsor, an assistant principal and he was also  serving as principal at Spring Garden School when he ran for election as superintendent.

Mike has worked with students and teachers in all grade levels and subject areas – and saw what was effective and what was an ineffective use of time and resources.

He has also worked with educators, administrators, parents and students in every situation imaginable. He is a Sunday school teacher at Union Grove United Methodist Church.  He is the Vice President on the Central Board of the Alabama High School Athletic Association – but, more importantly a father and a husband.

Mike named school safety as a top priority including having Resource Officers in schools;

Other top priorities include keeping the class sizes low, adding teachers in the areas of Fine Arts and Computer Programming, and working to develop long-range capital improvement plans which would effectively address the needs of every campus including the Career Tech Center.  

Mike has an undergraduate degree from Berry College – as well as a Master’s Degree and Educational Specialist Degree from Jacksonville State University.  He is a 1987 graduate of Cherokee County High School.

He is a past district officer of the Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals and he also represents our district on the Central Board of Control for the Alabama High School Athletic Association.  

Mike, who served 22 years as principal of Spring Garden School, says he is excited to be a  honored to have the opportunity to serve our county as Superintendent of Education.