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William Tragert, previously known as one of the high school math teachers, takes on a new role as the new middle school and high school assistant principal. You can sense his easygoing and friendly nature as he states, “I would like to think of myself as the Big Cheese, Head Honcho, and Grand Salami . . . some people also refer to me as the middle school and high school assistant principal.”
Some of you may wonder what brought on this change from teacher to assistant principal. Mr. Tragert explains, “The reason I love teaching is because I get to hopefully have a positive influence on students. I was drawn to the idea of being an administrator because it was a different way to have a positive influence on students. I can also potentially have a positive influence on my peers in a different way.” He elaborates, “It was appealing because it was a new challenge . . . to hopefully continue doing something something I’m really passionate about: working with people.”
Since his new role is very different from being a teacher, he went through a good deal of training before the change. When I asked how he prepared, Mr. Tragert said with a small smile, “I lifted a lot of weights, I got my haircut, bought some new shirts. Now I’m thinking about growing a mustache.”
Joking aside, in reality, he did a lot to prepare: “Before Mr. O’Hara left, I spent hours and hours with him learning about the role and getting prepared for it. So I probably spent close to 100 hours working with [him]. He gave me a lot of good training in preparation for the job and I have been spending time with the new principals.”
Aside from his assistant principal positions, he also takes care of a sixth grade study hall, which is great because he gets the opportunity to hang out with the sixth graders every few days. He said, “Middle schoolers are nice because they still laugh at my lame jokes; the high schoolers kinda roll their eyes and think ‘Here goes Mr. Tragert again.’ Midd
le schoolers actually think I’m funny.” Although his new relations with the middle schoolers are going well, he still wants the high schoolers to know that he loves them them too.
“I hope that I get to hang out with high schoolers as much as I did last year because you guys are certainly the best part of my day.”
Though the new role is interesting, he definitely misses being on the top floor, “being the top dog,” and hanging out with students. Tragert lamented, “I think students are afraid to come to the assistant principle’s office since it’s always associated with getting into trouble.”
Mr. Tragert’s goal this year is to continue to build AISG as a community so that everyone is excited to come to school. He wants to put a smile on people’s faces or make them look forward to arriving at school on a Monday morning, if that’s even possible. Keep dreaming, Tragert!
Also, to all the new students out there who don’t know Mr. Tragert, there’s one thing he really wants everyone to know:
“I wanna say I will challenge anybody to an arm wrestle contest anytime. Just come to my office.”
TL;DR: Go to Mr Tragert’s office if you’re looking to arm wrestle.
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