Louisiana middle school principal makes national news using TikTok, by: Howard Castay

A Louisiana middle school principal made national news on May 1 with his Tiktok page, which he uses as a platform to connect with students at Harry Hurst Middle School in Destrehan Louisiana, 26 miles west of New Orleans.

Dr. David Schexnaydre made the news on May 1, when he shared his use of TikTok with The 74, a nonprofit news organization that covers America's educational system from early childhood through college and career.

The 74 featured Schexnaydre on their internet news site at this link: https://www.the74million.org/article/how-one-middle-school-principal-is-using-tiktok-to-build-school-culture-recruit-teachers/

Schexnaydre is on TikTok with this address: @drdschex, with 3,114 followers, and 298,700 likes. Some of his videos have monster view numbers including a video of him doing a happy dance at the start of Christmas break, that went viral with 1.3 million viewers.

Another video about forgetting your school id has 460,700 views, while a video of him serving a volleyball has 183,800 views.

Other videos teach, with topics like: self motivation, getting to and from school safely, and how to properly handle a chromebook.

Then, there is a video where he pops the artist Drake in, to promote the school wrist bands which say, "Be better than Yesterday."

Also there is another video that spells out what HURST stands for - Honor, Unity, Respect, Self-Motivation and Tolerance.

Schexnaydre is also the 2023 Louisiana State Principal of the Year.

“Whether it’s academics, test scores or mental health, your initiatives will not work unless the school culture is right,” Schexnaydre told The 74 in their interview.

Additionally, Schexnaydre said these are some of the other reasons he uses TikTok:

 It's been a good tool, not only with students but in recruiting new teachers, who see the videos and see the school is a great place to work.

 We prove there is a way to use TikTok effectively 

 It's reach, you have to go where people are and students use TikTok.

 Denying access will only make students want it more