Lamb Is Latest Principal Feature

A camera crew from TruTV recently walked the halls of Wills Point High School for two weeks, gathering footage of Principal Jim Lamb and Wills Point students.

"The Principal’s Office" is a documentary-style program that airs on cable and satellite television. In the first season of the program, high schools from New Jersey, Connecticut, Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Delaware and Oklahoma were featured.

Wills Point is the first high school in Texas that has been filmed, and is expected to be featured early in the second season, sometime in January.

"It’s kind of a ‘day in the life’ of a principal," Lamb said of the show. "They follow you around and see the different scenarios you deal with on a daily basis.

"It’s been fun. We’ve had a chance to highlight our school and it’s really been a great honor."

Lamb recounted receiving a message at his office that the ‘The Principal’s Office’ had called.

"My first reaction was ‘Yeah, right.’ I had heard of the show but didn’t really know anything about it. I really thought somebody was yanking my chain, but it turned out to be true."

When Lamb returned the call he spoke with Brooke Sabonis, a former Canton resident that now works with Left Field Productions, the producers of the show. Sabonis attended Tyler Junior College and roomed with a student from Wills Point.

"She told me that they’d had a production meeting to plan the new season and she had suggested Texas," Lamb said. Sabonis was home-schooled, but remembered Lamb’s name from his time as a coach in Canton.

Lamb first did a phone interview, and then a video interview, and the producers quickly decided to come to Wills Point.

"Whoever watched the video said it only took 15-20 minutes to figure out this guy (Lamb) is a character," he said.

Three crew members spent two weeks in the halls of the high school, as well as in the community.

"They didn’t want to leave," Lamb said of ‘the kids,’ "The ladies here fed them real well.

"They were really impressed with our school and our town. They were impressed with how respectful our kids were and how well behaved. That has not been their experience at other schools. They were really amazed at the orderly way our kids moved from class to class.

"They also commented at how accommodating we were. The whole building, students and teachers helped them out anyway we could, and that was also different from how they had been treated at other schools. They mentioned that they had always heard about southern hospitality, and they were impressed with friendliness in our school and in the community."

"All in all it was a great experience," Lamb said. "I hope it comes off as well on TV as it seemed to here."

The crew also filmed a pep rally, the drill team, volleyball team, cheerleaders, an AP class, and scenes in town.

"The Principal’s Office" is the second highest rated show on TruTV. A schedule of programs can be found at www.trutv.com.