SALISBURY — Marvin Moore just wrapped up his first semester at the helm of Salisbury High School after transitioning from the principalship Isenberg Elementary School.

Moore replaced Luke Brown, who moved to Moorseville High School to take a principal job.

The 43-year-old Moore’s career in public education started years ago when he was hired by Jerome Heggins as a physical education teacher at Isenberg. Moore quickly rose to the top of the school. He was assistant principal at Isenberg after four years and principal in eight. He was named principal at Salisbury High at the end of June.

A Hertford County native, he played high school basketball and began attending Catawba College in 1995, and he was good. He was South Atlantic Conference Athlete of the Year, MVP, All-Region and All-America in 1999. Moore was inducted into the conference Hall of Fame in 2003.

Moore has expounded a philosophy of respecting everyone as part of his leadership style with an emphasis on developing positive relationships. He wants to learn each student’s name and make them, and staff, feel they can call on him if they need help.

His biggest hope for the coming year is for the COVID-19 pandemic to end.

“I’m hoping and praying it will happen. I mean this thing is affecting so many different people at so many different levels,” Moore said.

His other hope is that the world can return to a sense of normalcy.

“This is a new norm for us,” Moore said “I’m sure there are those who say we will never get back to what we used to do, but that is not always a bad thing,” Moore said.

Moore, a man of faith, has learned from 2020 as well. Growing up, Moore says he would often pray, projecting what he wanted, but rarely had to do it while facing dire circumstances.

Moore saw the fallout of the pandemic impacting millions of people in the country combined with social unrest resulting police violence against Black people. Sometimes, Moore says, he felt helpless and does not know how some people managed to get through 2020 without a higher power to look to.

In 2020, some of his prayers were projections of what he wanted to happen, but other times he prayed for comfort and for things to happen immediately.

“In my life I learned way more the value of what prayer is and the power of hit,” Moore said.

He hopes students will be able to restore themselves coming into the new year and do not miss out on opportunities he was afforded growing up.

“The losses that people took this year are going to be insurmountable to some people,” Moore said. “I’m hoping there will be opportunities to restore them some of the things they’ve lost.”