Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Two new faces joined the Wawasee School Corp. family Tuesday.
The Wawasee School Board of Trustees approved George Gilbert as the new school board member and Ellen A. Stevens as the new Wawasee High School principal.
Gilbert replaces Jeff Wells, who resigned from the board in April. Stevens replaces principal Alan Frank, who chose to become the vice principal at the high school to work closer with the students.
Dallas Winchester, school board president, said the board received eight applications for the board position. It was a difficult decision to make, but, he said, the board was happy to name Gilbert, who will finish out Wells' term, which ends at the end of this year. The seat is up for re-election in November. School board attorney David Cates swore in Gilbert Tuesday.
Gilbert, 66, lives on Lake Wawasee, Syracuse. He and his wife Sonjia, a retired librarian, have two children - Troy, an associate director of academic affairs for the University of California at Berkley, and Darci, a nurse in Greensburg and a Wawasee graduate.
Gilbert was the Wawasee business manager from 1980 to 1985.
Asked why he wanted to be on the school board, Gilbert said, "I thought I could help by taking over here. It's a great school system."
In announcing Stevens as the new WHS principal, superintendent Dr. Mark Stock said, "We're very excited about having someone of Mrs. Stevens' caliber."
With her strengths joining the administration already in place, Stock said, the administration "will be formidable."
Wawasee received 26 applications for the WHS principal position. "In today's market," Stock said, "that's considered extraordinary."
For the last 10 years, Stevens was the associate principal at Concord High School. She was the assistant principal at Concord for two years and business education teacher for 13 years. She served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University South Bend for seven years, a business instructor at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute for three years and business teacher at Elkhart Central for two years.
She has bachelor's and master's degrees in business education from Indiana State University. She received her secondary administration license through IUSB.
For the 2004-05 school year, Stevens' salary is $86,300 plus $2,500 for a 403(b) account. She will be on a two-year contract and will begin her job effective July 1.
Stevens and her husband, Joe, a retired businessman, live in Goshen. They have two grown sons - one is a pilot and the other is a mortgage broker - and three "wonderful" grandchildren. She is originally from Terre Haute.
She said she applied for the WHS principal job because of "the reputation of Wawasee," the leadership Stock provides and the opportunity to work with Frank.
"It's going to be a great place to come to," she said.
