ROGERS CITY — A new elementary school principal and secondary social studies teacher have both been hired by Rogers City Area Schools.

Steven Kowalski will be the new elementary principal and Kendra Beebe will be the new secondary social studies teacher. The Rogers City school board approved the hires at its regular school board meeting on Monday.

“There was a two-hour discussion the first day and two-hour discussion the second day (of interviews); there were pros and cons of each candidate,” said Superintendent Nick Hein. “We wanted a long-term person, someone we felt that would be in the position a long time; a new set of eyes on the building, as well. All the candidates were excellent. Mr. Kowalski fit that mold the best. All of us agreed it would be a choice for the building going forward. Steve is a graduate himself of this building here.”

Trustee Devin Pommerenke said he thinks the board has moved in a very good direction.

“We have some strong administrators that are committed to see their hometown take off and do something good and build on the progress we already have. I look forward to the years to come,” Pommerenke said.

Board President Ivy Cook agreed.

“We had had some good progress with the elementary,” Cook said. “He’s a very hard worker from what I understand. I have faith you’ll do good things.”

Beebe said she is excited to work.

“I believe in terms of our interview team, two comments that came up is that, ‘She seems incredibly intelligent,’ and, ‘Boy, she wants to be here,'” Hein said. “I have to say, before the job was posted, we didn’t know what was going to happen. I remembered receiving an email letting me know this is where they wanted to be and if a job position opened to let them know. That job opened up.”

Pommerenke said he’s excited to have her at the school and she seems like an intelligent, confident teacher.

The school board also noted there will be changes to the school day for the middle school and high school students. Hein said they’ve eliminated the required intervention hour for students, which makes the day change from six to seven hours. Students can still take the class if they want, or they can take something different.

“We are still offering an intervention hour for a grade,” Hein said. “It’s not going to be the priority to run the school. This schedule is much cleaner and much more efficient. It’s about how we divide up the day. The start time and end time are the same.”

Athletic Director Samantha Amrhein also announced important changes to the athletic handbook.

She included an athletic philosophy and breakdown of which sports happen when and the academic requirements for eligibility.

“The participation fee I included,” Amrhein said. “We discussed this; $20 for middle school and then $40 for high school students. If they (high school students) participate in all three seasons, it would be $100. Parents ask where does this money go toward, so I included what the breakdown is.”

School board members said they were happy with the updates and the work put behind the updated handbook.

Jordan Spence can be reached at jspence@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5687.