Post by title1parent on Aug 20, 2008 5:45:12 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1116582,6_1_NA20_FIRSTDAY_S1.article
Last year's close doesn't plague Central
School's interim principal steps in with enthusiasm
August 20, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Bill Wiesbrook had fun coaching Naperville Central High School's chess team last year, when he was the school's assistant principal of operations. It was fun, and he'd kind of like to keep doing it this year.
He's not sure he'll be able to, though, as the unfortunate events that brought last school year to a close have thrust greater responsibilities upon him.
ยป Click to enlarge image Naperville Central High School interim Principal Bill Wiesbrook poses for a portrait on the first day of classes Tuesday at the high school in Naperville.
(Jonathan Miano/Staff photographer)
Wiesbrook is now serving as the school's interim principal as a result of Jim Caudill's reassignment for plagiarizing part of a commemorative speech delivered last spring to Central's graduates.
But on Tuesday, the first day of classes in District 203, Wiesbrook said the plagiarism controversy wasn't on anyone's mind. He said teachers' "batteries are charged up," and students' minds are on catching up with old friends they haven't seen over the summer, and preparing for the new classes they're taking this year.
"So I think most of us, most of this community, is thinking about the things that are to come and not what happened at the end of last year," Wiesbrook said.
Consequently, he said, he intends to focus on all of the positive things that are going on, and to move the school forward.
"And I don't think that has been all that hard, to tell you the truth," he said. "It was a very negative situation at the end of last year, but there's just so many good people around here."
Among them are Central's administrative team, which, in the midst of the plagiarism controversy, decided that, if Caudill wasn't going to remain Central's principal, the position should go to Wiesbrook.
Wiesbrook said becoming Central's principal was "not something that I wanted to do at this point in my career," but it was something he wondered whether he'd like to do later in his career. So, he said, he was flattered that his colleagues thought he could handle the position, but he wasn't sure if he'd want it.
As it turned out, Superintendent Alan Leis offered it to him on an interim basis while handing his responsibilities as assistant principal to Ray Jamiolkowski, Central's student personnel services coordinator who was set to retire at the end of last year but decided to fill that post on an interim basis, as well.
Wiesbrook said it was those interim tags that actually made him comfortable with taking the job.
"It gives me an opportunity to see how I like it and see if it is a good fit for me, and, at this point in my life, see how it works," he said. "And if it doesn't feel like this is the right time, then somebody else can do it after this year is over. But if it feels like a good fit for me, I have an opportunity to apply and interview and perhaps do it on a permanent basis."
Leis said he is pleased with the current set-up.
"It seems to be working really, really well," he said. "They have so much experience at Central. They know the students and they know the families. So that has helped a lot."
That set-up also has a reassigned Caudill working with district administrators and architects on the $87 million expansion and renovation project that is slated to begin at Central in spring 2009. Caudill's work in this capacity is valuable because the project has become "so detail oriented and so knit and grit," and "because he knows that building inside and out probably better than anyone else," Leis said.
Caudill's focus on the facility improvements will allow him to "focus on the school and the business at hand," Wiesbrook said.
So Wiesbrook's biggest concern is related to that chess team: How will be able to manage his time as interim principal?
"Maybe there's a Monday night chorale concert or something. Should I go, or should I go home to my family, and if I go home to my family, is it going to appear that I don't care about that chorale concert?" Wiesbrook asked. "And if I'm at the football game Friday night, but I don't go to that chorale concert, or the steppers routine, or the flag competition or the swimming meet, what's that going to look like?
"So that's going to be a big challenge for me, and frankly, that's the part of this interim role that, at some point ... I'll have to ask myself if can I manage. If I can keep a healthy balance with my family and with my job here, and do I feel like I'm doing credit to Naperville Central High School, because this is a terrific place, and I think this place deserves a committed leader, and I'll have to make the decision whether I can be the right person for this job."
Last year's close doesn't plague Central
School's interim principal steps in with enthusiasm
August 20, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Bill Wiesbrook had fun coaching Naperville Central High School's chess team last year, when he was the school's assistant principal of operations. It was fun, and he'd kind of like to keep doing it this year.
He's not sure he'll be able to, though, as the unfortunate events that brought last school year to a close have thrust greater responsibilities upon him.
ยป Click to enlarge image Naperville Central High School interim Principal Bill Wiesbrook poses for a portrait on the first day of classes Tuesday at the high school in Naperville.
(Jonathan Miano/Staff photographer)
Wiesbrook is now serving as the school's interim principal as a result of Jim Caudill's reassignment for plagiarizing part of a commemorative speech delivered last spring to Central's graduates.
But on Tuesday, the first day of classes in District 203, Wiesbrook said the plagiarism controversy wasn't on anyone's mind. He said teachers' "batteries are charged up," and students' minds are on catching up with old friends they haven't seen over the summer, and preparing for the new classes they're taking this year.
"So I think most of us, most of this community, is thinking about the things that are to come and not what happened at the end of last year," Wiesbrook said.
Consequently, he said, he intends to focus on all of the positive things that are going on, and to move the school forward.
"And I don't think that has been all that hard, to tell you the truth," he said. "It was a very negative situation at the end of last year, but there's just so many good people around here."
Among them are Central's administrative team, which, in the midst of the plagiarism controversy, decided that, if Caudill wasn't going to remain Central's principal, the position should go to Wiesbrook.
Wiesbrook said becoming Central's principal was "not something that I wanted to do at this point in my career," but it was something he wondered whether he'd like to do later in his career. So, he said, he was flattered that his colleagues thought he could handle the position, but he wasn't sure if he'd want it.
As it turned out, Superintendent Alan Leis offered it to him on an interim basis while handing his responsibilities as assistant principal to Ray Jamiolkowski, Central's student personnel services coordinator who was set to retire at the end of last year but decided to fill that post on an interim basis, as well.
Wiesbrook said it was those interim tags that actually made him comfortable with taking the job.
"It gives me an opportunity to see how I like it and see if it is a good fit for me, and, at this point in my life, see how it works," he said. "And if it doesn't feel like this is the right time, then somebody else can do it after this year is over. But if it feels like a good fit for me, I have an opportunity to apply and interview and perhaps do it on a permanent basis."
Leis said he is pleased with the current set-up.
"It seems to be working really, really well," he said. "They have so much experience at Central. They know the students and they know the families. So that has helped a lot."
That set-up also has a reassigned Caudill working with district administrators and architects on the $87 million expansion and renovation project that is slated to begin at Central in spring 2009. Caudill's work in this capacity is valuable because the project has become "so detail oriented and so knit and grit," and "because he knows that building inside and out probably better than anyone else," Leis said.
Caudill's focus on the facility improvements will allow him to "focus on the school and the business at hand," Wiesbrook said.
So Wiesbrook's biggest concern is related to that chess team: How will be able to manage his time as interim principal?
"Maybe there's a Monday night chorale concert or something. Should I go, or should I go home to my family, and if I go home to my family, is it going to appear that I don't care about that chorale concert?" Wiesbrook asked. "And if I'm at the football game Friday night, but I don't go to that chorale concert, or the steppers routine, or the flag competition or the swimming meet, what's that going to look like?
"So that's going to be a big challenge for me, and frankly, that's the part of this interim role that, at some point ... I'll have to ask myself if can I manage. If I can keep a healthy balance with my family and with my job here, and do I feel like I'm doing credit to Naperville Central High School, because this is a terrific place, and I think this place deserves a committed leader, and I'll have to make the decision whether I can be the right person for this job."
