Ken Mummah of Gulf Shores is slowly, but surely, getting the hang of his new job at a local school even though he dove headfirst months into the school year.

He hasn’t even been at it for two weeks and he hasn’t had any complaints yet, and he works with some of the toughest critics out there, more than 500 children, all under the age of 12.

Mummah, a long-time educator, took on a position as assistant principal at Summerdale School last Monday.

“Of course,” Mummah said, “there are a lot of things that are already in place when you jump in like this, but I think by Christmastime, everything will be good to go. Everyone has been so very good and helpful and kind, so it has been okay so far.”

His new gig at Summerdale is quite different from every education job he has ever had before because Summerdale’s school has 520 students ranging from pre-K to the eighth grade. All of Mummah’s previous experiences were at the middle and high school level.

“I learned a lot of things at the other schools, but I still have a lot to learn,” Mummah said.

Mummah’s last position was at Daphne Middle School as assistant principal from 2006 until the end of the last school year. Before Daphne Middle, he taught and coached at Gulf Shores High School, Disque Middle School, Oxford High School and Gadsden High School.

“Those were good years at Daphne,” Mummah said. “It is a large middle school with 570 seventh and eight graders. It was a good experience.”

Mummah began his career in education in northern Alabama, but in 1999 he moved his family to Baldwin County because of the school system’s reputation.

“The school system was well-known throughout the state. The facilities are and continue to be outstanding. I thought it was a great place for us to move and bring up our daughter. She has been through the Baldwin County school system,” Mummah said.

He is treating his new position at Summerdale as a learning experience.

Mummah’s starting date for his new position was after the beginning of the new school year because he was on leave taking care of family members.

“I learned about the opening at Summerdale, which is a little closer to home and I knew that it was an outstanding community. This is a new experience and I hope to stay here in Summerdale for many, many years because it is a great place to be,” Mummah said.

Mummah also said he will miss the staff from Daphne, but the opportunities that are waiting for him at Summerdale are worth it.

“I was looking forward to working where you had all the children from pre-K to eighth grade. I want to be able to watch them grow and develop,” he said. “This is really unique. Instead of just a couple of grades where you don’t see all that developmental change.”

Despite the differences and challenges of his new job, Mummah is adjusting well. According to Mummah, the younger children have already made quite an impression on him.

“I didn’t know how I would respond when I had the first little kindergartener coming and tugging on my pants leg,” Mummah said. “It is joy. They put a smile on your face when you are feeling down a little bit and they come up and smile and mispronounce your name. I even had a little child even bring me a flower the other day and I thought that was so sweet and kind.’ 

Mummah has also noticed that due to the variance of age in the students at Summerdale, there are a lot of brothers and sisters that are students. Mummah said while brothers and sisters tend to fight, he has also witnessed the opposite in his week there.    

“The brothers and sisters take care of each other,” Mummah said. “I see a lot of that. I see more of a sense of all the students helping each other, no matter what grade they are in.”

Oddly enough, Mummah’s first career choice had nothing to do with education.

His first degree was in business administration, but while he was searching for a job he came into contact with his seventh grade basketball coach and his career took a turn down a completely different path.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you come over here to the school and do a little substitute teaching and I will let you coach a seventh grade basketball team,’” Mummah said.

He got involved in teaching and coaching and found that he loved the classroom and the court.

“I went back to school and got another degree, this time in education,” Mummah said.

He eventually went back and got an administration degree as well so he could become a principal.

“It started way back when my former coach talked me into it. I guess without his guidance way back when I was a seventh grader playing on his basketball team I wouldn’t be here today. I guess he kind of knew this was something I was going to enjoy here 25 years later,” Mummah said.

While his career hasn’t taken the original path he planned, Mummah is pretty pleased with where he has ended up.

“That is where I started, but as I can see now that is not necessarily where I am going to end up. God puts you where he needs you and I am just going to follow his plan for my last years in education so we will see where it goes from there,” he said.