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Even though they deserve to be celebrated and honored every day for their dedication and hard work toward the betterment of the students and staff in the community, one day a year there is a formal celebration for school principals. National School Principal Day falls on May 1st of each year and was founded by Janet Dellaria of Michigan. This is a day when principals are recognized and celebrated for all that they do for their schools, staff and students. Principals have an important job; they set the academic tone in how they interact with their staff and students and how they encourage their students to succeed. Principals implement their vision through dedication and determination to provide an environment that is successful and positive for both students and teachers. This Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, it is time to celebrate the wonderful principals of WCS, Lori Kokes, Steve Petry and Mike Duffek.

Lori is the high school principal for Wagner Community School and she has held that position for the past two years. She has been in education for the past 20 years. Lori has been employed at WCS since 2015. She began by teaching middle school social studies and language arts before becoming the WCS high school principal in 2022. As the high school principal, some of her duties include staff management, student management, curriculum, budgets, event supervision and graduation. Administrators wear many different hats each day to meet the needs of the students and staff, so it is difficult to list all of the duties that Lori has to complete throughout the year. One thing that people may not know about being a school administrator is that these individuals are willing to step-up and pitch in whenever and wherever they are needed. Some days she may be needed to cover a class for a teacher or wipe up a spill at a basketball game. She and her fellow administrators strive to model teamwork and create a positive environment for everyone at the school.

Lori attended Dakota Wesleyan University for her undergraduate degree in Social Studies Education. She is highly qualified in the areas of social studies, speech communications and literature composition. She later completed her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from the University of South Dakota. After graduating from DWU, she started her career as a paraprofessional for the Wagner Head Start Program. After the Head Start program combined with the pre-school program at WCS, Lori decided to take a position at Andes Central where she taught grades 7-12 social studies and language arts. While at Andes Central, Lori was also one of the Senior Project advisors. She then taught grades 7-12 language arts in Avon where she was also the newspaper/yearbook advisor and oral interp coach. Lori has also worked as a substitute teacher in many areas school districts, including two Hutterite colonies in the area. This has given Lori a variety of educational experiences with different grades and cultures.

When asked what motivated her to become a principal, Lori said that she wanted to impact students and the community in a new way. She was already providing a positive impact with students in her classroom. By becoming a principal, she was able to further influence more students at the school by creating a positive school culture, building strong relationships and supporting student learning. The best part of being a high school principal for Lori is that each day is different. Even though there are things scheduled, one never knows exactly what to expect each day; the same could be said about the most challenging aspect of being a high school principal. In Lori’s opinion the most powerful indicator of student success is a challenging question to answer because each student has their own unique strengths. For Lori, it is an empowering educational experience to help students find and develop those skills in order for the student to be successful not only in the classroom but also in their daily lives after graduation.

When asked what she enjoys about working at WCS, Lori said that she has met and worked with many amazing students, families, and staff members during her years at WCS. The Wagner school has always been at the forefront of educational trends. The administration of the school challenges themselves to provide top-notch education each day and provide opportunities for lifelong learning and real-world skills. Lori is humbled and honored to be a part of the Wagner administrative team. Lori has also been an assistant oral interp coach for WCS and is a member of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings (OSEU) revision team for the South Dakota Department of Education since 2016. This team promotes appreciation and understanding of diversity within communities and state.

Growing up, Lori was voted the most helpful student in her class of over 200 students. Helping people and building relationships is quite easy for Lori, so teaching seemed like a natural career choice since teachers help people and build relationships each day. Many people do not know that teachers much complete at least six college credits of educational classes every five years and complete training on suicide awareness and prevention to renew their teaching certificate. As an administrator for WCS, Lori and her fellow administrators model behaviors that they want to see in the students – respect, kindness, and teamwork. She values feedback from her staff and shares the decision-making process with them when possible. They lean on one another’s strengths and create opportunities for students to show their leadership in the classrooms and in extracurricular activities.

Lori is married to her husband, Jay, and they have lived in the Wagner area for the last 25 years. The couple has three children Michaela, Myles and Matthew. Over the years, Lori has been active in the Wagner community as a former Girl Scout leader, the Wagner Girl Scout Unit coordinator and is the former director of religious education at St. John’s Catholic Church. When Lori is not busy at WCS, she enjoys being outside; four-wheeling, walking her dogs, Max and Milo; completed her first half marathon; enjoy polka dancing to Angie Kriz and the Polkatoons; watching the New England Patriots football games; and watching/attending Professional Bull Riders events.

Steve Petry is currently the middle school principal and has been a principal for the past 27 years at WCS. Some of the job duties of a middle school principal are scheduling, teacher evaluations, discipline and “anything that is needed and duties as assigned”. What Steve has enjoyed most about working at WCS is the opportunity to work with the parents of students that he used to have as students. Before coming to work at WCS, he was a Physical Education teacher at Flandreau Indian School. Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education and Masters in Administration both from South Dakota State University. While Steve was teaching at Flandreau, he began taking night classes which were mainly graduate level classes. He figured he could already teach, so the next step was to take administration classes.

The best part of being a principal for Steve is never knowing what the day will bring and all the different people that he gets to interact with. The most challenging part of being a principal is that there is not enough time in the day to get everything done. In Steve’s opinion the most powerful indicator of student success is maturity. When Steve was deciding what to major in it was between veterinary or teaching. His freshman year he took animal science and history classes. Steve quickly found out that he hated learning the different breeds or sheep and liked the history classes, so education it was.

Steve tries to empower his staff by supporting the teachers. WCS has a great group of people that care immensely for the students. He tries to listen to people and lead by example in order to build a positive school culture.

Steve is married to his wife, Cherie, who is a first-grade teacher. Their oldest daughter, Paige, is currently student teaching at WCS and was just hired to teach third grade. Paxton is finishing his freshman year at USD. Parker is a junior at WCS and Payne is an eighth grader. Steve is active in his church, St. John Lutheran Church. When not busy working or attending his sons’ activities, Steve enjoys hunting and doing some woodwork.

Mike Duffek is the kindergarten through 4th grade elementary principal. Mike is currently finishing up his third year at WCS and was previously the elementary school principal at Bon Homme for 22 years. He has been in education as a teacher/administrator for the past 35 years. As the elementary principal, Mike’s job duties include to help and support the staff in order for them to make a difference in each student’s educational experience; to be an adult that the students can trust; and to make time to be where he is needed. One thing that people may not know about his position is just how rewarding it can be. He appreciates the relationships that he has developed with the parents and guardians of his students. It has been a pleasure for him to be able to learn so much about Wagner families and the different cultures that all call Wagner home.

Mike attended Dakota Wesleyan University and received his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Elementary Education. He received his Master’s Degree from the University of South Dakota in Educational Administration. He first taught 2nd grade at Freeman for two years where he also coached football and basketball. He was then a teacher and elementary principal for the Bon Homme School District for 29 years where he also coached football, basketball, track, and golf while also serving as the Athletic Director. Mike decided that he wanted to further his reach of being a positive impact on students by becoming a principal. The best part of being a principal for Mike is the students and the relationships that he has developed with them. As a principal at Wagner, he has had great opportunities to get to know the parents and families of his students. The most challenging part of being a principal would be having to deal with discipline issues. Mike does not enjoy having to call parents for those types of reasons.

When it comes to working for WCS, Mike has really enjoyed and appreciated the support and help that he has received from the school board, staff and administration. He has truly enjoyed the relationships that he has developed with his students over the past three years. For Mike, the best indicator of student success is that there is not just one way to measure success because each student learns and succeeds differently. Although testing scores are part of the picture, they are not the only indicators of success. Students being taught how to make good decisions and then using those skills accordingly is also important. Students will be faced with many challenges both academically and socially as they grow older, and it is his and his fellow administrator’s jobs to help them navigate through them all.

Mike originally went into the education career field because he has always enjoyed being a positive role model for kids and was wanting to make a difference in someone’s life. Mike’s high school football coach was Russ Morrell and he was a big influence on Mike becoming an educator/ coach. As an administrator for WCS, Mike tries to empower his teachers by encouraging his staff to try new and different things in their classrooms without fear of failing. He wants them to take chances and try things that may be outside of the “normal box”. He encourages this because one never knows which students will respond in a positive way to something being done differently or in a new way. Being a positive role model is closely tied to how relationships with students are developed and sustained. Mike believes in building a positive school culture by allowing the students to know that they have some say in what is happening at the school. By letting the students know that they do hold power at the school, the students will then have ownership and want to be a positive part of the school. A school that is safe and has adults that they trust is a school that students will want to be at. Mike is honest with students that everyone makes mistakes, but it is how someone responds to their mistakes and fixes them that is the key. Teaching students what they should do is important and talking them through these situations is essential for future success.

Mike is married to his wife, Stephanie, and they have two daughters Emily and Jenna. The couple also has a fur baby, Quinci, their mini aussie. Currently Mike would like to get more involved in the community as he becomes more familiar with opportunities to give back. He is always willing to help when and where needed and just needs to be asked. When Mike is not busy at WCS, he spends a lot of time moving his daughters in and out of apartments, reading history books and attending as many Green Bay Packer home games as possible.

Thank you, Lori, Steve and Mike, for the dedication and the passion that you bring to not only your role at the school but the Wagner community as well. It is thanks to educators and administrators like you three that provide a wonderful learning environment and experience for students and staff that give us a reason to honor and celebrate principals.