Meet the 5th - 12th grade Principal

Greetings Ashby Students and Families, I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to be the 5th-12th grade principal here and I am excited to be a part of the Ashby Public School. 

Together; we will foster a cooperative and collaborative school amongst students, teachers, support staff members, and administrators. This will allow all of the great things happening here at Ashby to continue and grow. High expectations met with compassion for our staff and students will allow us to keep growing and striving for the best. 

I am a graduate of Minnesota State Moorhead University, St Cloud State University, and West Central Area Schools. I am from Elbow Lake, Minnesota. My wife and I have 3 energetic and fun loving children. In the past, I have coached football, basketball, and taught Physical Education. These experiences have led me to strive to make an impact on more people and students’ lives. Here at Ashby that is one of my goals. Outside of school I enjoy many hobbies, most of which have shifted from what I like to do to what our children like to do. An example would be playing soccer, sliding down the stairs, or watching Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. I enjoy hunting, fishing and being active within the great state of Minnesota, I enjoy any opportunity I can get to be out in nature. I appreciate time with my family and friends, and I wholeheartedly believe time is the one commodity that we will never have enough of in our lives.
There is a story that I am sure everyone here has read or heard, but I would like to share it because it means a lot to me:
                   "Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.  Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young boy paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide washed them up onto the beach and they can't return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water." The old man replied, "But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I'm afraid you won't really be able to make much of a difference." The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, "It made a difference to that one!" (Straube, 2011)

If we as a community all continue to positively impact our youth, we can reach them all! 

Straube, P. (2011, June 6). The starfish story: One step towards changing the world. EventsForChange. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/