At Woodland Middle School in Brentwood, Tenn., Assistant Principal William Toungette has expanded student mental health supports and mentored a new generation of school leaders.
On April 17, 2026, in Washington, Toungette was named the 2026 National Assistant Principal of the Year award alongside a winner for the high school level. Both were recognized for strengthening school culture and advancing approaches to student behavior and mental health, according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals, which organized the awards.
Toungette was recognized for fostering 鈥渃ollaboration among teachers, strengthening student support systems, and guiding countless families through the challenges of middle school,鈥� according to the .
Education Week spoke with Toungette shortly after his win.
鈥淚t was very surreal to be in a room with such greatness, and to be named the middle school assistant principal of the year was a very humbling experience,鈥� he said.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You鈥檝e been in the assistant principal for over 30 years. How has the job changed?
I鈥檓 finishing my 36th year, so I鈥檝e been in the game for a while, but every day is a different day, a new day. [But] getting to deal with children every day is just a joy.
The biggest difference that we鈥檝e experienced has been the onset of technology, particularly cellphones and artificial intelligence. That鈥檚 the biggest thing that I can kind of think back to over the last 15 to 20 years.
What challenges do you expect to face in the next year?
We have a lot of students with some social-emotional learning issues who come into school. We work very closely with our counseling team, and we do a needs assessment for our students. Then we build our counseling services around those needs. We鈥檙e always looking to support our kids.
We鈥檙e seeing a real increase in anxiety and depression. Middle school is a tough age, and a lot of times we have kids that are transitioning really from childhood to adulthood during those years.
Our teachers do a great job if they build those relationships, and they know that a student is struggling or sees a change in the student, they鈥檙e very quick to report that to our counselors. Our counselors get right on it, and then we partner with the parents to make sure that we鈥檙e supporting the children.
What does mentorship look like to you?
I have a younger administrator in our building. I try to work very closely with him, on different things and try to pour into him and share any wisdom and experience that I have when he comes across things.
We have a district-wide mentorship program, and I鈥檓 very fortunate to be connected with great new [assistant principals], each year and try to support them and answer their questions, check in on them, send them little tokens of appreciation, and take care of them as best I can.
How has technology impacted your school?
We have an AI policy, and our teachers are able to check and make sure we鈥檙e very specific with the kids and communicating the expectations. We try to teach them about the appropriate ways to utilize AI, but we still have some kids who don鈥檛 use it properly. When they do [use AI properly], we address that, and we try to use that as a learning opportunity for them.
Our teachers are very specific in their instructions about what can and can鈥檛 be used, from citing sources and copying and pasting off the internet that doesn鈥檛 really involve AI.
What do teachers at your school need most right now?
They need more time. There鈥檚 never enough time. Time is a finite commodity; we only have so much of it, but we try to provide them with time to work together.
We have some set aside, dedicated, planned time for each of our curriculum teams, and that鈥檚 been working really well.
I wish that we could take something off their plate so they could have more time to plan. We are working on that with our schedule, but it鈥檚 a tough situation.
What鈥檚 one change you鈥檝e made to improve student belonging?
We have a period every day that is called our 鈥淲arrior Period鈥�, and it is what we call an adult recess.
Kids get to choose from a menu [through] an app on their Chromebooks. Their activities run the gamut of what鈥檚 out there, anything from a walk in the park to 3-on-3 basketball, to extra study time, to quiet time, or just hanging out with friends. That鈥檚 been really good to build community.
It鈥檚 a brain break for kids. Every year, we have to evaluate it to see if we鈥檙e going to continue it because that piece of time and instructional time is so critical, and we鈥檙e always looking for ways to maximize our instructional time.
What鈥檚 something people don鈥檛 fully understand about your role?
Most people don鈥檛 understand how much time that it takes and how much of an emotional toll it takes when a kid makes a mistake. In addition, how you really hurt when a kid has made a serious mistake and there鈥檚 a serious consequence that鈥檚 going to impact them greatly.
Most people don鈥檛 understand that we do truly love and care about the kids, and we鈥檙e not just there to issue consequences.
Is there anything else you want to share?
This [award ceremony] is a great experience鈥攖o be with so many great 糖心动漫vlog and talented folks who have given their lives to children.
It鈥檚 empowering and encouraging, and even for somebody that鈥檚 been in the game for a long time, it鈥檚 made me re-energized鈥擨 may go 10 more years, who knows.
