Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School principal Jerry Ransom will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Ransom has been principal for six years at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High and has been at the school for more than 20 years. He has served in the education field for 30 years.

Beginning his career in 1976 at Walker County’s Chattanooga Valley Elementary School, Ransom later went on to coach football, baseball and wrestling at Lakeview Junior High School.

When he came to Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School, Ransom served as director of in-school suspension. He also coached football and the golf team.

Ransom said it “wasn’t in his mind” originally to go into school administration, but an interim position as assis-tant principal in charge of discipline and attendance while at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High changed his mind.

“Serving the (interim assistant principal in charge of discipline and attendance) really sparked my interest in school administration,” Ransom said. “I already had my education degree, so I decided to attend UTC (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and get my certification.”

He said the most rewarding aspect of school administration and coaching is seeing students grow into adults.

“You’ll see students come in as freshmen and then leave as young adults,” Ransom said.

Ransom said it’s also rewarding to speak to former students.

“A lot of students don’t realize what they’re doing while going to school,” Ransom said, “But afterwards, they tend to wish they did more.”

The most difficult aspect of working in education, Ransom said, was dealing with recent budget cuts.

“It’s been very tough,” Ransom said. “It’s taken a lot of hours to figure out ways to maintain our budget.”

Ransom said he hopes to leave Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School with the ideals he held while serving as principal.

“Any principal’s main job is to maintain a safe and disciplined environment,” Ransom said. “I hope I was able to do that while at LFO.”