There’s a new principal at Kiowa High School, but unlike years
past, the new administrator is a familiar face in the school and
community.
Jason Westfall, a six-year Kiowa staff member, has been awarded
the position of Pre-K-12 principal – a position that puts him in
control of the 400 plus students in the Kiowa School
District.
Westfall began his full-time teaching career in Kiowa, where he
taught middle school history for five years. While Westfall was
planning to resume his post as history teacher in the fall of 2004,
those plans were suddenly changed. That spring and summer brought
the retirement of Becky Thornburg, Pre-K-5 principal, and the
leaving of Cheryl Lassota, 6-12 principal. At that time, Westfall
became the Pre-K-8 principal while Todd Wynne took on 9-12. With
Wynne’s resignation announced earlier this summer, Westfall is now
responsible for the entire district with assistant principal Brenda
Wham at his side with the elementary and middle schools.
Westfall looks forward to the upcoming year not as an
opportunity to change, but as a chance to see what’s going wrong
and make improvements. He does mention, however, that discipline,
safety and hard work will be his primary focus. He notes that
school should be a place where kids can be safe and come to learn,
not to socialize and certainly not to bully others. Westfall looks
forward to encouraging a passion for education in his students. He
hopes that Kiowa students will someday be proud to display their
diplomas on office walls and know they can do anything with the
education that began at Kiowa High School.
Westfall is a sports nut who loses himself in every issue of
Sports Illustrated. He also loves music, reading about religion
and history, and historical computer games. He has been married to
his wife, Tana, a Kiowa Middle School secretary, for 13 years. The
couple doesn’t have any children of their own.
“There’s an old joke that if you have kids, you have to name
them.
There aren’t many names out there that you don’t associate with
a student,” jokes Westfall.
Westfall is joined in the high school this year by three
additional new staff members. Robert Pennison will teach
upperclassmen English, AP English, speech and publications. He has
more than 10 years of experience in advanced English and was even a
chairperson in the English department at one of his last
schools.
Charity Bray will teach advanced mathematics, including
trigonometry, statistics and calculus. This is her first year as a
teacher, previously being a stay-at-home mother.
Chris Bailey will teach elementary physical education and a high
school fitness class. In addition, he is the new head coach for
the football team.
As the new principal, Westfall would like to remind students
that his door is always open. He believes that it is best to
encourage students to come talk to him with their problems rather
than acting out in class or in halls. Being a former teacher and
respected mentor to many of the high school students, Westfall does
not anticipate many problems.
“I think it helps that so many of these kids know me and won’t
have to meet a completely new person,” Westfall said.