Tri-City Ledger -

W.S. Neal Middle School in East Brewton welcomes native Perry Updike as new assistant principal this fall, following the retirement of former assistant principal Donald Hardyman.

A 2002 graduate of W.S. Neal High School, Updike attended W.S. Neal Elementary, Middle and High Schools growing up. She then went to Jefferson Davis Community College (now Coastal Alabama Community College) for one year, then transferred to the University of Alabama, where she earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in secondary education with a concentration in history.

Updike said her first teaching job was...