Nov 21
8
Celebrate! Kenai Central High School Assistant Principal Will Chevernak is recognized as the 2022 Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals Region III Assistant Principal of the Year!
“Working with such an amazing staff is a true blessing and I feel very fortunate to have such strong support from my school and fellow administrators,” said Will Chervenak. “Going into work each day, knowing that I have the opportunity to be a positive influence in the lives of our kids, is more than I could ever ask for in a career. Recognition was never my motivation for making education my life’s work, and I am so appreciative that my efforts have had a positive impact on the Kenai community.”
Mr. Chervenak has a continual growth mindset. He always seeks to find ways to improve, and thereby become even more effective at having a positive impact on students.
-Superintendent Clayton Holland
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland said, “Mr. Chervenak is an outstanding assistant principal and we are all thrilled that he has been named Region III Principal of the Year. Mr. Chervenak has a continual growth mindset. He always seeks to find ways to improve, and thereby become even more effective at having a positive impact on students. He is supportive of staff, and he seeks to include their voice on decisions made at the site level. Mr. Chervenak, along with Principal Dan Beck, have created a great culture that is supportive of students, staff, and families.”
Thoughts from Alaska Region III 2022 Assistant Principal of the Year, Mr. Will Chervenak, Kenai Central High School
In 2021…
“This year I have pushed myself to improve my professional practice and have taken a new approach to student discipline, focusing on restorative justice and building positive relationships. This is a shift from the more traditional disciplinary model of correcting student behavior punitively. Another skill set that I am building upon is facilitating the N.O.T. (Not On Tobacco) youth cessation program. This program focuses on tobacco product education, cessation, providing an alternative to out-of-school suspension for a student found to be using tobacco products at school. Further, my work on the school intervention team has allowed me the opportunity to advocate for response to intervention (RTI) best practices, and I look forward to the RTI Summit later this year in which I hope to improve my RTI acumen and bring those techniques back to my school.”
School culture
“I am very proud of the culture that exists at Kenai Central High School. We are focused on student voice and providing a student-centered curriculum that is further supported by the personalized learning framework. I formed a committee to enhance our student-centered focus to fill the monthly calendar with positive activities for student. For example, during October we had Halloween-themed spirit days, a pumpkin carving contest, a Halloween hallway decorating class competition, hallway trick-or-treating, and an outdoor scary movie drive-in. I also had the opportunity to facilitate our annual community job shadow event. Current 11th graders are paired with local industries, participating in a quarter-long workshop that focuses on employability skills, resume building, interview protocols, and culminates in a full day job shadow experience in their identified career field.”
Education during a pandemic
“The global pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for staff and students. These challenges were further compounded when my head principal was forced to leave for immediate and urgent health concerns. This led to an administrative restructuring in which I fulfilled the role of head principal for the entirety of second semester and was afforded the opportunity to bolster in-building capacity to promote another member of our certified administrative staff to assistant principal. During this challenging year, my assistant and I focused to provide staff a voice that they had not experienced before. This was made possible through the formation of a collaborative leadership team involving administration and department heads. The results were increased staff voice in the master schedule, building-level interventions, in-services, and addressing the immediate needs of both remote and in-person student learning. The distributed leadership model led to the formation of school-wide homerooms that focused on building trusting relationships with staff and students, as well as providing scaffolding for immediate academic and behavior interventions.”
Dr. Lisa S. Parady, Executive Director of ACSA/AASP said, “Congratulations—you are one of the best of the best in Alaska! We thank you for your continued commitment to Alaska’s students and congratulate you on being named your region’s Assistant Principal of the Year!”
Links
- Website: Kenai Central High School
- Facebook: Kenai Central High School
- AASSP: Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA)
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