Meet the Candidates: Dayton Secondary Principal

Paul Shaber

Paul Shaber currently teaches high school math and science in Idaho at the Fruitland School District and has been there for 13 years. He recently earned his administrative credentials through the University of Idaho. He doesn't have a lot of administrative experience yet, he said, but he often substitutes for his current principal as needed. The principal at Fruitland High School, which has 460 students, told Dayton School Board that Shaber, "thinks outside the box to help students learn."

Shaber has been married for eight years and has four children, the oldest is 7 and the youngest just turned 1 year old. He is 33 years old and said he is looking for a small town to raise his family. His leadership activities have included aligning the math curriculum K-12, leading the district technology committee, writing technology funding grants, and participating in the district accreditation process. He has coached eighth grade football and middle school track. Recently his students built a bio-diesel go-cart, which brought together skills from physics, ag shop, and chemistry.

Shaber said communication and relationships are key to a principal's job. Audience members asked how he would support teachers and motivate students. First, he said, he would find out from them what kind of support they need. "Every teacher needs something different from their administrator. My job is to find that obstacle standing in the way of them being a good teacher and pull it out of the way," he said. Motivating kids? "It starts with a relationship. Once we create that relationship, almost anything is possible."

In Fruitland, Shaber started a STEM club (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). "Well it started out, I wanted more students in my physics class. There were only four that first year, and that was not enough. We go on field trips with the club each year and do fundraising events during the year. Now I've had as many as 25 students in the physics class."

Guin Joyce

Guin Joyce is currently a teacher in the Chimacum School District on the Olympic Peninsula. She directs the online alternative education program at the high school and works with approximately 100 students taking advanced or elective courses or those who need to recover lost credits to graduate on time. Prior to her position in Chimacum, she taught health and fitness in Edmonds at the elementary and middle school level.

In 2011, Joyce enrolled at Seattle Pacific University and earned her administrative certificate. She has also worked with students in activities such as coaching cross country, track and field, and volleyball. She has been a class and club advisor at both Chimacum and Edmonds. Outside of school, she has worked in Parks and Recreation, the YMCA, and Girl Scouts. In 2013-2014 she planned and supervised a 2.5 week trip to London for 23 teenage girls.

Joyce is married and has three grown children. "Being a teacher helped me be a better parent, but also being a parent helped me be a better teacher," she said. Joyce believes firmly in relationships and reaching out to students and teachers to find out where they need help and what their goals are so she can help in reaching them. "You have to dig in deeper and find out who they are. Not just what their parents what for them, but also what they want for themselves."

Joyce has experience in helping students set out goals and achieve them through her work with the online program at Chimacum. She also has worked within districts to set and meet administrative goals, such as developing the online program or creating a K-12 aligned health and fitness program.

Randy Hoover

Randy Hoover is currently a physics and science teacher in the Kennewick School District. He began his teaching career in Medical Lake with a stop in Pasco before moving to Kennewick. In 2013, Hoover earned his administrative credentials from Eastern Washington University. As an intern, he was involved with the teacher evaluation system serving as a trainer for Kennewick schools.

Hoover graduated from Eastern in 2002. In Medical Lake, he taught middle school science before moving to Pasco where he taught physics and science courses and served as an assistant football coach and head track coach. Principal Van Cummings of Kennewick described Hoover as a teacher and coach who is well organized and builds excellent rapport with students.

Hoover is married to a Dayton grad and has two young children. "I would love for them to grow up here and experience that Bulldog magic that my wife always talks about," he said. Hoover wants to make connections with students and "get our community back on board with us," he said. "This school is only going to be as good as what we put into it."

For Hoover, supporting staff and students is about relationships, shared decision making, getting kids to see where their choices are taking them, and being an excellent role model and example for not only students and teachers but also the community.

Kate Wenzl

Kate Wenzl has been serving as the interim junior high and high school principal in Dayton since Aug. 11. She came from the Port Angeles School District where she most recently served for two years as the Special Education Director. Prior to that position, Wenzl was an elementary principal, junior high vice-principal, and a teacher.

Wenzl attended a small high school in eastern Washington. She received her administrative credentials through Washington State University in 2004. Since that time she has been involved in district-level trainings in special programs, teacher evaluation, and the Danielson Instructional Framework to name a few.

Wenzl has an avid interest in athletics, coaching junior high basketball and volleyball during her time in Port Angeles. "Yes, I am an avid sports person, but really I'm pro-students being engaged in something they're passionate about that helps them do well in school," she said. Coming from a strong military family, she admits she can be strict, but only because she respects the students and wants them to succeed, she said.

Wenzl is married and has two daughters. Her family has remained near Port Angeles for now because she didn't want to uproot them for an interim job, but they would relocate to Dayton if she got the permanent position, she said. "My first few months here you've seen me as firefighter Kate," she said. "But I think we've really made some progress. And this is where I want to be."