DAPHNE, Ala. – Veteran coach and educator Corey Lewis recently used his master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy to transition into a role as a high school principal in Hartsville, S.C.

Lewis was recently promoted to principal at Hartsville High School, where he had previously served as assistant principal since 2010. In addition to administrative work and classroom teaching, Lewis also previously served as the school’s varsity baseball coach and assistant football coach.

Lewis earned his Master of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy in 2005.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in education administration from Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., where he played collegiate baseball.

“I originally got into education because it allowed me to have the opportunity to coach,” Lewis said.

“Coaching is my passion, but my conscience would not allow me to be a good coach and a slack teacher. So, I worked very hard to create positive experiences not only for my players, but for the students who sat in my classroom every day.

“The United States Sports Academy provided an opportunity to earn my master’s degree while I continued to coach and teach,” Lewis said.

“At the time, I also thought that I would pursue athletic director positions. Although the Academy focuses only on sports, I have found that the same sports management concepts that I learned from my Academy master’s degree – strategic planning, risk management, public relations – have transferred to my job in school administration.”

Lewis has more than 18 years of experience in education. He coached football – leading the wide receivers, defensive backs and special teams – at both Darlington and Hartsville High Schools. He also served as head baseball coach at Darlington and Hartsville, where his 2007 baseball team won the AAAA State Championship.

He has also served the Darlington County, S.C., school district as assistant principal at North Hartsville Elementary School. He will officially start as principal at Hartsville on 1 July. The school is home to more than 1,200 students.

“There is not enough ink to list all the things a high school principal is responsible for,” he said. “In general terms, my responsibility is to provide a vision and structure that allows students to grow academically and socially in a safe environment. The position requires the day-to-day management of a school that consist of approximately 1,250 students and 135 faculty and staff members.”

Along with his coaching and education experience, Lewis also worked as a commentary control systems operator for Atlanta Olympic Broadcasting during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.

The Academy is based in Daphne, Ala.  For more information, call (251) 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.