BY JULIE KEIRNS
DHI Media Staff Writer
jkeirns@delphosherald.com
CONVOY
– Crestview Local Schools has announced a new middle school principal
and athletic director due to Dave Bowen taking a position as high school
principal. Trent Kreischer, a Wren native, is excited about the
position.
Kreischer attended Crestview South when the elementary
school was still located in Wren and graduated from Crestview Local
Schools in 1993. He graduated from Huntington College in 1997 with a
Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and recieved his Master’s in
Educational Leadership from the University of Dayton.
Kreischer
first came back to Crestview as a fourth-grade teacher. He taught three
years in the elementary school, then spent the next 13 years teaching
English, reading and language arts to seventh and eighth graders in the
middle school.
“I had some really great teachers at Crestview,”
said Kreischer. “I can’t think of one bad experience I had in school
while growing up. I wanted to come back home and provide that same kind
of education to a new generation of kids.”
“Most people who want
to become teachers have had a good experience in their own school years
and want to come back home,” he continued. “Great teachers are what
develop a passion for learning and teaching in kids.”
“Having been
in this school district for a total of 35 years, between being a
student and teacher both, I can attest to the fact that Crestview has
amazing people, parents, and teachers,” Kreischer added. “Getting a
chance to work with all the wonderful people in the Crestview district
is the most exciting for me. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity
to be where I am. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Kreischer
left the classroom at the end of the 2013-2014 school year and spent the
last five years as the director of curriculum and instruction working
at the district level with all three principals, the superintendent and
all the teachers on professional development and testing. He spent time
working on the new teacher mentor program and overseeing competitive
grants.
“The last five years have been a great experience for me,
working in that capacity of leadership and collaboration with so many
wonderful people,” he said. “Now I am looking forward to the next
phase.”
Kreischer’s wife Chrissy is a speech and language
pathologist at Van Wert City Schools. The pair has two sons, Carson a
sophomore and Preston a seventh grader.
“I must say my wife is
awesome,” he commented. “Through all my years of driving buses, yearbook
advisor, working in the athletic office, coaching girls’ basketball,
and varsity football, I have had to be away from home a lot, and she is
the most supportive and understanding person I know. I could not imagine
taking on the responsibility of principal and athletic director without
her by my side.”
Kreischer stated that he owes his educational
career at Crestview to Ray Etzler who was the elementary principal that
first hired him.
“He took a chance on a green, fresh out of
college kid at a time when Crestview didn’t like to hire first-year
teachers,” he said. “If he had not pushed the central office to hire me I
am not sure where I would be right now. I wanted to make sure to
recognize him because to me it is all about the people along the
journey. It’s the people who impact us that matter and the fact that I
am now fortunate enough to impact others along the way.”
“I am
very excited to have the opportunity to be in this position at
Crestview,” Kreischer added. “I am looking forward to the start of the
new school year and working with the outstanding kids, parents, and
teachers in the area.”