Hales Corners — Whitnall High School was one of several area schools in which students returned last week to find a new principal on the job.
Former Waukesha North interim principal Anthony Brazouski now occupies the principal's office at Whitnall. He takes over for Joel Eul, who stepped down at the end of the 2008-09 school year.
Brazouski, 32, is a second-generation school administrator, though he didn't plan it that way when he enrolled at Marquette University. Initially a pre-med student at first, he eventually changed his major to education because he was anxious to get out into the working world.
Among his prior experiences are teaching English as a second language to Russian immigrant students and coaching baseball and football.
Eventually, he moved up the ranks to administration and followed in the footsteps of his father, who is a dean of students in Illinois.
Several friends and family members attended or taught in Whitnall schools, and Brazouski said he knew the district as one that is responsible with its finances and whose staff is progressive in its curriculum.
"Once I was hired, I found out that everything was true," he said. "We did have a great staff and they were committed to those goals, so it was definitely the right fit."
Brazouski was brought on board in March and soon helped select the school's new athletic director/assistant principal, Jill Stobber. Prior to the school year, he got to know the building, parents, students and, for the past several weeks, the staff.
School Board President Bill Osterndorf praised Brazouski's immediate effort to become part of the Whitnall community and said his ideas fit well with the school district's focus.
"It was great he made an effort to meet people even before his starting date," Osterndorf said. "I'm really impressed with the new thoughts he's bringing … and the approach he's taking."
Brazouski said after his initial get-to-know-the-school phase is over, his focus will be preparing students to enter the global economy after graduation and utilizing new-age technology to students' benefit.
And even though the principal's office may have a new nameplate on the door, Brazouski said his teacher mentality will frequently lead him around the school.
"It was absolutely imperative that I had that experience" as a teacher, he said. "I like to be in the halls with kids, I like to be in classrooms, I like to be at events. It's the only way to go and that's the only way to be involved."
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