As the start of the 23-24 school year kicks off, we welcome three new people to the administrative team! Mr. Werner—our new principal, Mr. Kubuske—our new Activities Director, and Mr. Chudacoff—our new Associate Principal of Curriculum and Instruction. I sat down with each of them and asked a few questions to help introduce them.
What made you want to go into education?
Mr. Werner—“…I was originally pre-law, and I wanted to be a trial attorney. I ended up playing soccer in college. So I was recruited to UW Green Bay a million years ago… I helped coach soccer camps… just fell in love with the coaching aspect of things… After a while, I’m like, ‘I just love being around the kids and teaching them.’ Again, that dealt with athletics first, but, thought, you know what? Really, I want to be a teacher and like most educators, [there were a] few teachers that had a huge influence over [me]. I certainly did in my high school experience [where] I thought… this is really what I want to be. So I changed majors and went into education and ended up teaching and coaching and loved it. I was in the classroom probably longer than a lot of administrators—I was in the classroom for 16 years. In Appleton, I was over at East teaching, but I coached soccer over here at North. So I had that connection to the school. And…it’s certainly a passion of mine… I know some people think that’s crazy… But I’m like, You know what? I also don’t understand… working [in] cubicles and we’re adults all day long, either [way] like I need the energy of a building [and that ] just makes me want to come to work every day.”
Mr. Kubuske—“Both my parents were educators. My dad was a middle school teacher and head football coach. My mom was a [high school] science teacher. So watching them and being around schools my whole life, it just kind of felt like a natural fit. At one time I thought about getting into the medical field, but through some happenstance circumstances [I] kind of landed in education. I also thought about coaching college football. I tried that for a couple [of] years after being in the classroom, but I really missed the connection with the high school kids… I got back into teaching after that. It was super fun to coach. I coached at a little school called Bemidji State [in] Minnesota … got my master’s degree there. [We] got to recruit kids from all over the country and sit in high school just like North and talk to them about their future. So school experience, but the connection there with the kids…is a lot different than the kind…when you’re in high school, teaching kids every day, you’re talking with them every day, whether you’re in season or out of season. It’s a little bit more [of a] disconnect in college football. Some people probably like that, but it just wasn’t for me.”
Mr. Chudacoff—“So initially, I actually student-taught here many, many years ago. Before I student-taught, I took an education class at Lawrence. I was getting some hours—when you take an education class you have to get some classroom observation hours…So I did some in one of the English learners’ classrooms. I had been observing for about twenty minutes and the class was reading a story…the teacher asked me if I wanted to go out in the hall and work with one of the groups of students. So we went out in the hall and started reading the story. It was just really fun…we’re just talking about what they’re reading and working on comprehension, idioms, and just some of the nuances of English, and I just saw these light bulbs going off [for] these kids and I really never thought about teaching before then. But it was kind of that moment that I’m like, ‘I think this is what I want to do.’”
What are you most excited about for this year?
Mr. Werner—“I think just a fresh start. I mean, you know, I’m sure things have been fine in the two years that I’ve been gone but just starting over again and really focusing in on the culture piece at North; how do we have great school pride and school spirit and [how do we try] to ramp that up? …I just love the passion that our students have for our school. So to me, I think that’s going to be the biggest thing. It’ll be a large learning curve for me because I’ve never been a head principal before. So I’m vulnerable enough to know that I have lots to learn, anytime…I’m excited for a new challenge and a new chapter. Again, having been in the classroom for sixteen years, that’s not anything foreign to me as well. So I’m excited to get back into the kind of ‘macro’ level of all the aspects of school. So I think…hopefully, getting to a point where everyone at North can feel a sense of belonging [and] know that we want everyone to be successful and for our staff to feel like they want to come to work…I think it’s just trying to bring that passion back to everybody.”
Mr. Kubuske—“I’m just excited to see everything, being new to a school like North that has such expectations of excellence and such a high mystique about it in the community. It’s just exciting for me to kind of see everything like last week we had our first football game… and, you know, people were asking me about changing plans—are we ever going to do this [differently] or that [differently], really, I just kind of want to see everything [and] how it goes; I want to see how things have been done. I want to see the things that we’re proud of, and the things that we need to work on—all the good, the bad, [and] the ugly, because I think there’s there’s tremendous opportunities at a school like North…It’s already a great school, but to continue to progress and move forward, and make our name known not just in the Northeast Wisconsin community, but maybe the whole state, even nationally.”
Mr. Chudacoff—“There’s a lot of things I’m really excited about. Number one, you know, I’ve been a parent of the school for seven years. My daughter graduated in 2020 and my son will be a senior. I grew up probably… about a half mile [away]… when I was a kid, this was still [a] field… and so, for me, I’m just… honored, humbled, privileged, excited to work for the district [where] I grew up, in the city [where] I grew up, and serve my community that made me who I am.”
What are some of your hobbies or things you do in your free time when not at school?
Mr. Werner—“I know being from a sports background, I mean, I do love watching the Packers, the Badgers, all that fun stuff. But I really gain joy from watching our students do what they love doing… Our fine arts and theater are… amazing. So, [I had] a chance to watch the Summer Shakespeare performance over the summer… I’m blown away at the talent that our students have, and I really love to watch the choir concerts, watch the band concerts, [and] just to get out there and be able to see our students do their thing brings me a lot of joy. [I] had fun at the football game, watching the student section be the student section. So in my pastime, I like to do that. I do enjoy reading… and, you know, watching TV when I can. There’s not a ton of time, but I can sit down and watch a few shows as well.”
Mr. Kubuske—“[Me and my wife], we’re busy. I have three kids—I have an eight year old going into third grade. And then I have twin kindergarteners. So, a lot of my free time is spent with them and with the people in our neighborhood—we have a lot of kids in our neighborhoods… They all get to play together. And then the grownups get to spend time together hanging out…so really family more than anything else. Obviously, I enjoy watching sports, [especially] from Ohio. I’m a big Ohio State and Cleveland sports fan… Then I do some graphic design work on the side as well. I don’t know how much time I’ll have for that in this new role.I used to have my own little freelance company, but that might have to go on hiatus for a little while.”
Mr. Chudacoff—“…My longtime ‘me time’ is [usually] exercise. I like to lift weights, I like to do some cardio, either running or biking… I also do karate… [I’m an adult] karate instructor and I’m actually going to be testing for my third degree Black Belt this fall… I love spending time with my family… We like to watch TV shows and movies when we need an opportunity to just zone out. I… enjoy sports. We would go to Packer games. That’s every other Sunday… from basically September to [the] middle of January. I [also] love to grill in the backyard. I’m a pretty normal guy.”
