One team, one goal
“When I was coaching, we had a motto – ‘one team, one goal’ – and that’s something I would like to see reflected in our athletics program … that we are all Panthers,” said Kelly Welch, the assistant principal of athletics. Although she was speaking about student athletes and sports teams, her goals for the year echo the mission of the new administration as a whole.
The only returning administrator out of five, Welch is working with a completely new team led by Principal Joshua Eby. Eby is returning after leaving his job as the assistant principal of instruction to serve as principal of Sycamore Canyon School (SCS) for the past two years.
As an assistant principal, Eby was always able to go to the principal for guidance or mediation. However, Eby said that learning how to be the “final say” as principal of SCS was tough, but he feels this experience will be helpful in ensuring that he and the rest of the administration have a successful year.
“[As principal of SCS] it was my vision and my school that I got to run – and getting to learn to do that on a slightly smaller scale (SCS has 1,500 students) … was invaluable,” Eby said.
While the other three administrators are completely new to campus, Eby has had the opportunity to work with all of them in a professional setting at some point during his career.
For example, Eby coached boys’ baseball with Bennett Wutkee, new assistant principal of instruction, at Westlake High School for two years.
Cheryl Moncourtois, the current Dean of Students, taught while Eby was principal at Sycamore. He even encouraged her to go after a job as the district Outdoor Ed Coordinator.
Eby shares both a professional and personal connection with Carly Adams, Dean of Activities. Eby and Adams have known each other since she was about 12, because they grew up together and worked cooperatively at WHS.
Based on past experiences with his fellow administrators, Eby is confident in the new team.
“I know that we all can work together,” Eby said. “We have a common value system and understanding of how a school should work, and I also think our personalities mix really well together.”
Eby is optimistic that the administration will have a successful year, but he understands the advantages and disadvantages of working with a brand new group.
“Now, to say it is going to be perfect … no. I know there are going to be bumps in the road and at times we are going to have to really work through things because we haven’t done this for five or six years,” Eby said. “At the same time, this gives us the opportunity to put our mark on things and say, you know what, maybe there is a different way to do this … let’s take a step back and see if we can do this better.”
