NATCHITOCHES – Casey Hendricks has been named principal of the Northwestern State University Middle Lab School.
“NSU Middle Lab has a rich tradition. As the new principal, I will strive to continue those traditions as well as build new ones. This school has a special place in my heart, and I am proud to be a servant to it,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a minor in history at NSU in 1998 and obtained certification to teach grades 6-12 in 2005. He earned a master’s in education leadership at NSU in 2008 and +20 in 2019. This fall he will complete a doctorate degree in adult learning and development with a concentration in community college leadership through NSU.
Hendricks began his career as teacher and coach in 1999, teaching social studies and PE and coaching football and boys and girls basketball at Many Junior High. From 2003-2005, he taught social studies, civics and Spanish at St. Mary’s while coaching football, track and boys basketball at the junior high and high school level and was responsible for upgrading the school’s website. He taught history at Many High School from 2005-2006, coaching football, track and golf and working as a school improvement team member and a presenter for the Louisiana Social Studies Comprehensive Curriculum. He returned to St. Mary’s from 2006-2007 to teach social studies and civics and coached high school football and track, junior high boys basketball and track and served on the social studies curriculum design team.
Hendricks joined the staff at NSU Middle Lab in 2007 where he taught social studies and PE and coached football. He also served as RTI facilitator, school improvement team member and PBIS team member. He was named Teacher of the Year in 2014. From 2014-2016, Hendricks taught history at Natchitoches Central High School and was head golf coach, assistant varsity football coach/head freshman coach. He returned to NSU Middle Lab from 2016-2018 where he taught social studies and PE and was supervising teacher for teacher candidates and methods students. He was a leadership team member, PBIS team member, interim principal, head basketball coach and football coach.
Since 2018, he has been secondary social studies curriculum specialist for the St. Tammany Parish School Board, providing professional development to educators for social studies instruction, providing educators with updates to the state assessment and providing and creating resources for social studies educators that complement the state’s curriculum and standards. He was also able to collaborate with district personnel across all grade levels and subject areas to create opportunities for student success and participated in multiple quality assurance reviews to keep the district in AdvancED accreditation. Hendricks served on the LEAP 2025 8th grade social studies content and bias item review team (LDOE) and developed a rapport with teachers and administrators across the district. Most recently, he created five weeks of COVID-19 lesson plans for social studies grades 6-12 during quarantine and build Google classrooms for social studies grades 6-12 in preparation of schools starts for COVID-19.
“It is an honor and a privilege to have been selected as the fourth principal of Northwestern State Middle Lab School,” Hendricks said. “I look forward to building meaningful relationships with the students, parents, stakeholders and faculty. I also look forward to assisting in building a collaborative bridge between Northwestern State University and Natchitoches Parish Schools to develop and recruit new teachers to our district. I have a desire to provide learning opportunities not only to our students, but also to our teachers.”
“Middle Lab has a rich tradition and we are excited for Mr. Hendricks to extend and enrich that tradition,” said Grant Eloi, Natchitoches Parish Superintendent of Schools. “We know under his leadership middle lab will continue to grow and to be a beacon for high academic standards.”
NSU’s Middle Lab School is located at the university’s Teacher Education Center and provides engaging learning opportunities for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students as well as quality field experiences for many of Louisiana’s future teachers.
Information on the school can be accessed at https://npsb.la/nsu-middle-lab-school.
