As the school year nears the end, so too do the one-year contracts of some staff members.
While Mason Villarma, who took the job of activities director at the beginning of the school year, has opted not to renew his contract, a new principal and IT director have signed on for the 2023-2024 school year.
Villarma said adding the school district activities director job to his ongoing workload became too much.
“I think with the current load, being the (borough) finance director and coaching, there was not enough room on the plate to do a really great job at all three,” he said. “You can only do so many things well, and I took the job (of activities director) because I wanted to restore some normalcy to athletics post-COVID, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
Several regional and state titles can attest to how well the athletics department did in helping student-athletes be successful, he pointed out. “I’m hoping the foundation we built this year extends to the next three years, four years, decade. That was kind of the mindset.”
By leaving the activities director position, Villarma said it will help him focus on his main career as borough finance director and helping with the success of the community. He still plans to serve as the head coach for cross country running, as that’s a passion he wants to share with his athletes.
Splitting his time made it difficult to give attention to the activities director position, which can demand a lot of time in scheduling games, hosting visiting teams, arranging travel and lining up volunteers for events, among other tasks.
“In a perfect world, I would implore the district to consider a half- or full-time (position) coupled with (another job) up there as you see in most districts,” he said. “I think that just makes it easier.”
With the retirement of first-year high school and middle school principal Bob Burkhart, who is returning to Montana, the district has hired a new principal, Jackie Hanson, who is coming from Montana.
“Her contract went out in the last (school) board meeting,” said Schools Superintendent Bill Burr. “She was a long-term principal in Craig. She moved down to Montana for a year and is coming back.”
Hanson and her husband, Chuck Hanson, a retired teacher and wrestling coach, run a charter fishing business and lodge out of Craig and had an opportunity in the Lower 48 over the past year for her to teach. She was the principal in Craig from 2009 to 2022, starting there in 2008 as a special education teacher.
“I’m excited to get back to what I consider home,” Hanson said in a phone interview last Thursday. “I love working with kids, teachers and the community. I’m excited to be a part of the wolf pack.”
Both of their sons, Rogan and Keegan, are wrestlers, and the family has been in Wrangell for regionals and other events. While Rogan is graduating this year and will be at college, Keegan will spend his senior year at Wrangell High School.
“My youngest knows Jack Carney (Wrangell wrestling coach). He’s excited to wrestle for Jack,” she said.
In addition to Hanson’s hiring, the district has a letter of intent from Tony Anzalone to fill the position of IT director for the district. He will take over after Bob Russell decided not to renew his contract after a one-year stint. Anzalone has already secured housing and is excited to take the job, Burr said.
“He opened a pizza place this last year, but before that, he was the IT director for Fort Yukon (in Alaska’s Interior),” Burr said. “He’s a former teacher who worked in the North Slope.”
Reader Comments(0)