Jim Tinius is the new principal at Potter Gray Elementary School. Photo by Joe Imel

With less than a week to prepare, Jim Tinius was told Saturday he would be principal at Potter Gray Elementary School, which starts Thursday. Tinius said hes enjoying the rush. I dont have a whole lot of time to get ready, but I dont have a whole lot of time to get nervous either, he said. Im basically going to hit the ground running and learn on the run. Tinius, the former assistant principal at Bowling Green High School, has made somewhat of a switch with Gary Fields. Formerly Potter Grays principal, Fields now fills that role at Bowling Green High. The friends plan to rely on each other for information about the schools. Gary said, You know were going to be burning up the phone lines, Tinius said. Its nice to follow Gary. He did a great job while he was here. In fact, Tinius said Fields did such a good job that he doesnt plan to change the school much. Going in, you just want to make sure you maintain that and build on that, he said. If there are any changes, Tinius said they will be made in the pupils best interests. Anything you get ready to do, you have to think, How is this going to affect our students? he said. Tinius already had decided to step down as assistant football coach at Bowling Green High. A longtime coach and fan, he said he decided to leave the coaching job prior to being hired at Potter Gray Elementary. Last year, it was harder to juggle it than it had been in the past, he said. He started at Bowling Green High as a math teacher and football coach, but over the years his life has gotten busier, he said. In 1996, he married longtime girlfriend Dana, who is a science teacher and cheerleading coach at Bowling Green High. He became the assistant principal of Bowling Green High and in 2000, his daughter, Chapel, was born. As a parent, Tinius said he already is thinking about some of the issues that face elementary school pupils. He knows it may be hard for some children to be away from home all day, possibly for the first time. He remembers what it was like during his first few days of kindergarten at the Catholic elementary school he attended in New Albany, Ind. I wasnt a real happy camper, he said. But he eventually got comfortable and became fond of school and his teachers. I just remember the teachers I had and different neat qualities those teachers had, he said. It just seemed like an exciting, fun profession to get into. Those teachers may have influenced his decision to become an educator or maybe not. I wasnt one of those kids that sat around in high school thinking, What am I going to do be? What am I going to be? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? he said. But after he started teaching, he said he found it hard to stop. Tinius taught in Allen County for a few years after he graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1979, but returned to WKU in 1984 to get his masters degree and decided to stay as a football coach. By 1988, he decided he had to move back to Allen County and start teaching again. It gets in your blood, he said. As a teacher, coach and administrator, Tinius is known for his high level of energy. He talks fast, moves fast and thinks fast. Hes not jittery, but focused. I get excited about what Im involved in, he said. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, Im very upbeat and positive. Along with his quick personality, hell bring a few other things to his new office that are symbols of who he is and what he loves an Elvis lamp, an Elvis trash can and a cardboard cutout of the King. I have to get the office fixed up here, I guess, he said. Im not going to turn it into a shrine or anything. But if he has it his way, Tinius wont be spending much time with his idol. He said hed rather be in classrooms or walking the halls talking to pupils or teachers. He wants to know them and he wants them to know him even his Elvis-loving side. If they see you willing to shed you inhibitions, they may be willing to get involved in something they were worried about, he said. Thats what its all about for the kids to have the most productive environment they can have.