As the doors opened for the 2024-25 school year at Omaha North High School, the front office welcomes a new face. Mr. Christopher Humphries has replaced Dr. Colette Nero as principal.

This is not Humphries’ first rodeo as a principal. Humphries was formerly the principal at Nathan Hale Middle School.

Humphries grew up in Alabama, and Georgia. His family valued education and made sure he got the right help to grow in the right direction, making sure he knew how to respect people. His uncle worked in technology industries, which was new to the world at the time.

Humphries also took part in sports. Humphries ran track and played on the basketball and football teams.  Humphries did not play basketball or football in his senior year to focus on track. Humphries says that his coaches instilled hard work in him.

This led to him falling into education.

“Knowing what my coaches and teachers did for me, so I chose education because I wanted that impact on students as well,” said Humphries.

Humphries’ first job in education was at Cooper Village Uta Halee. At risk students are assigned there through court. Humphries worked with students to get them on the right path and build relationships with them.

“Usually if they are disassociated or disengaged is because they don’t feel included… but if you build relationships, find out what their interest are and kind of meet them where they are, and you can see those improvements.” Humphries said.

Humphries was an English teacher for Omaha Public Schools for six years, working at Northwest High School. While at Northwest, he impacted many students’ lives and gained many insights into education from mentors around the building.

One person was Herman Colvin, former Omaha Public Schools Principal. Colvin worked in education for 33 years.

When Humphries first began teaching at Omaha Northwest High School, Colvin was the principal. As Humphries was getting his Administration Degree, Colvin was a mentor for him.

“I remember the words he told me, ‘everyone wants to be an administrator, but nobody wants to do the work… so we will see how bad you really want to be an administrator,’” said Humphries.

For the next few years, Colvin mentored him and gave his knowledge and wisdom on becoming an administrator. It was huge for Humphries.

“I feel like I learned a lot in just a short period of time,” said Humphries.

To this day, Humphries and Colvin are still in contact and close with each other. They still meet up with each other and Humphries still likes to go to Colvin for advice when he needs it.

“He’s been in my position in the district… he was also here so he was excited when he heard I was coming to North and put me into contact with people who have been families at North for a long time, to make it helpful, so he’s been really really instrumental to my success,” Humphries said.

After his time at Northwest, Humphries moved into other positions within the Omaha Public School District. The positions that Humphries held were as follows – Assistant Principal at Morton Middle School, Assistant Program Director Blackburn Alternative Program, Program Director Expelled Student, Blackburn Alternative, and Secondary Success programs and Principal Nathan Hale Middle School.

Humphries says his most memorable achievement for him is the work he did at Nathan Hale. In his time there, he turned the negative viewpoints regarding the school around.

“I would get messages saying, ‘nope absolutely not sending my student there,’” said Humphries, which later turned into “bringing back some of the families in the neighborhood and people outside of the area wanting to attend,” Humphries continued.

Throughout his career, Humphries has gone through many challenges.

One of his largest challenges has been trying to help kids find value in education, especially students who do not want to be in school. He focuses on showing students how education can change their lives. Every day Humphries tries to work on this and sees success in his attempts.

Humphries enjoys being a principal. Humphries’ favorite part of being a principal is seeing the relationships being built between students and teachers.

He also enjoys seeing the students throughout the day.

“Students are energizing, also exhausting, but energizing because you get to know what students enjoy, just in their free time,” said Humphries.

Students inspire him when he can see or hear about things he has never experienced. Humphries loves to learn in general and learning new things about students is also something he looks forward to.

“I love to learn and so I’m ready to have a conversation with a kid about something they enjoy that I haven’t experienced and it’s always exciting as well.” Humphries said.

Outside of school, Humphries is more than just a principal. Finding the balance between work and his family is something that he thinks he can work on.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit tough, I haven’t found the balance yet with making time for family and get the job done well.” Humphries said.

Family is something that Humphries does his best to separate from work. When he is home, he completely separates his work life from the house.

“Unless it is an emergency, I don’t do work at home… so right now that’s where that balance is, it’s not great, but that’s the balance I’ve found at the moment,” said Humphries.

If necessary, Humphries will stay at school late and work to make sure things are completed efficiently so he can be available for his family.

Humphries shares his past experiences with youth in hopes to make an impact. There are many students who one day would like to become educators or administrators.

“Don’t waste an opportunity to grow… learn every experience you can. I look back on all those experiences I had, and they helped me be the educator I am today,” said Humphries.

As the new school year begins Humphries brings vast experience and a passion for education following his previous roles throughout his life.

With a background rooted in sports and a strong mindset on building relationships with students, Humphries aims to inspire those who may feel disconnected from their education.

He prioritizes the importance of balancing work and family life while also cherishing the mentorship he received from former principal Herman Colvin.

As he steps into his new role, Humphries is dedicated to making a positive impact on the students and community at Omaha North, encouraging young people to grow and obtain learning opportunities to help their futures.