Former Tomlin Middle School students who attended the school between 1993 and 2006 will remember their physical education teacher, the bubbly and outgoing Traci Durrance.
Durrance began her career in education at Tomlin and later moved to become an assistant principal at Plant City High School, but she is headed back to her Tiger roots. At the Hillsborough County School board meeting Tuesday, July 14, Durrance was named the new principal of Tomlin Middle School, effective July 20.
“I’m very excited,” Durrance said. “I love Tomlin.”
The position of Tomlin’s principal was formerly held by Susan Sullivan, who became the new principal of Plant City High School last month.
Durrance was born in Lakeland but attended Plant City schools, including Cork Elementary, Marshall and Tomlin middle schools, and Plant City High School before graduating from the University of Florida in 1992.
She left her first teaching job at Tomlin in 2006 to begin working at Plant City High School as a resource teacher and also serve as a softball coach. In 2007, she became the school’s assistant principal of student affairs. In 2009, she became the assistant principal of administration and athletic director.
She is excited to make a positive impact at another Plant City school.
“I look forward to going back and working with people that I worked with in the past,” Durrance said.
Before the next school year kicks off, Durrance plans on meeting with members of the staff to know what they want for their school.
“I think you have to get a feel for the school first, and listen to others,” Durrance said. “What I want to do right away is spend a lot of time in the classroom, and see what is going on.”
Durrance will observe Tomlin’s instructional practices and plans to promote a positive school culture and community through both parent and student involvement.
Although she has found her niche in administration, Durrance originally decided to go into education so that she could coach softball.
“Sports is definitely my passion,” she said. “That was the driving force, but I love kids.”
Now, Durrance says, her driving force is seeing the impact she can have on students and making a difference in their lives.
“One of the things I was able to do at Plant City was to bring a different perspective,” Durrance said.
When she first came to the high school, Durrance focused on building relationships and structure. She formed relationships with the students, staff and community.
“I love that aspect of working with our stakeholders,” Durrance said.
While working as the assistant principal of administration, Durrance focused on changing the culture of academics for student athletes. She encouraged the student athletes to become leaders in their school and taught them to become productive in their community.
“I’m very proud of all of the athletes we’ve sent on to college,” she said.
Typically, PCHS sends between 11 and 18 students per year to college through athletic scholarships.
At Tomlin, Durrance will focus on getting more students connected to activities and programs, such as athletics.
“I think that’s important for our kids,” Durrance said. “Getting them connected to something. When a student is connected … that will get them to that school. That’s what we want to provide to students.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.