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Reaching out for a new principal

Ponoka Outreach School to have a new principal this fall.
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Ian Tisdale is to take on the role of the Outreach School principal this fall.

Coming from the mountains to the prairies can be somewhat akin to the change coming to Ponoka Outreach School this fall.

Current principal Scott Lewis is stepping away from school administration duties to focus more on being a teacher, which meant Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) had to find a replacement.

WCPS announced last week they had hired Ian Tisdale to take on that role starting in September.

For the past year, Tisdale was the assistant principal at the high school in Princeton, B.C. - a small community in the southern interior.

The move for Tisdale marks a return to Alberta, having taught for eight years in the Chinook’s Edge School Division - that surrounds Red Deer to the east, west and south - as well as six years in the Wild Rose School Division that is based in Rocky Mountain House.

“I am excited to become part of the Wolf Creek family and absolutely thrilled to be joining the incredible team at Ponoka Outreach School,” Tisdale said.

“I am looking forward to the upcoming years as we work together to enhance success for all students in Wolf Creek.”

What Tisdale brings to the job is described as a unique perspective that will suit the students needs at the Outreach - having been a career counselor as well as an assessment and literacy coordinator. He is also said to be an avid coach with experience in hockey, volleyball, basketball and cross country running.

Corrine Thorsteinson, current WCPS acting assistant superintendent of People Services, stated it was Tisdale’s varied expertise that drew him to the top of the selection pack.

“Ian is clearly a passionate leader who brings with him a diverse teaching background that will support the very positive directions at Ponoka Outreach School,” said Thorsteinson.

“Ian will be a wonderful addition to Ponoka Outreach School and to our Wolf Creek administrative team”.

The move will also bring him back home, sort of, as his wife Marcia is presently an educational assistant and librarian at Eckville Elementary and he is working on completing his Masters of Education in Educational Leadership through the University of Lethbridge - which he is slated to finish in the fall of next year.