School: Colby H.S. – New Principal (2022)

Transcriber: Stan:

Surnames: Wozniak, Diedrich, Perushek, Tebo

----Source: Tribune-Phonograph (Abbotsford, WI) 23 Mar 2022

Board members made it official Monday night naming Steven Wozniak as the newest Colby High School principal. He will take over for Marcia Diedrich, who retires at the end of this academic calendar.

Wozniak, who currently serves as middle school guidance counselor and middle school wrestling coach in the Colby School District, was selected from a pool of 17 applicants.

A screening committee independently reviewed the 17 applications with the top five being invited for an interview.

On March 7 and 9 the selection committee met and interviewed those five candidates. On March 15, the three finalists met with faculty, students and community members. At that point, the district had narrowed down their choices to just three candidates, Wozniak, and current Colby High English teacher Ben Perushek and Joshua Tebo, a long time educator who has taught students in Dubai, Taiwan and Venezuela.

Perushek began by citing his experience living and working in smaller communities, which he believed would be an asset to the district.

Perushek said almost from the start of his teaching career at Colby High he and his wife have discussed how to make the biggest impacts on students’ lives. Perushek said this led him to pursue his master’s degree and eventually his principal’s licensure. “My goal here as principal, if I am hired, is to continue to empower the teachers. During my prep hour I’ll walk around the halls a little bit, and I’ll hear some amazing things teachers are doing in their classes,” Perushek said. “I just want to continue to give them the resources and time to continue to do great things, and let them know those great things don’t go unnoticed.”

Tebo cited his international experience, but also he and his wife’s ties to Wisconsin, with both having grown up in rural Wisconsin communities. Tebo said he was a proponent of “restorative justice” when it comes to discipline, in that he wanted the discipline to have a purpose beyond just punishment for a student’s transgressions against district policies.

Like Perushek, Wozniak also cited his ties to the community, and said he wants to increase student involvement in clubs and after school activities.

Following that community forum, the selection committee met and voted to recommend the board hire Wozniak for the position.

Wozniak told board members that he was nervous going in front of the forum and noted there were a wide variety of questions. “I heard a lot of positive feedback that people were about to voice their opinions,” he said.

Board member Cheryl Ploeckelman agreed. “People liked being able to hear from the candidates.

“The more voices you ask the wider the range of opinions you get,” said superintendent Steve Kolden.

As he looks forward to taking over the high school principal position, Wozniak said, “I am excited and nervous.”

“You don’t realize what Marcia does in a day,” he said, referring to current high school principal Marcia Diedrich, who is retiring.

“I appreciate the work the hiring committee and board did,” Wozniak said.