By Joel van der Veen
KENASTON — An area native is returning to his old stomping grounds as the new principal at Kenaston School this year.
Greg McJannet, currently a vice-principal at Walter Aseltine School in Rosetown, will take his new position in Kenaston this fall. Sun West School Division announced the appointment on May 7.
McJannet, who grew up on a farm east of Kenaston and participated in sports there in his youth, said he’s looking forward to returning to a K-12 school in a small town.
“I hear really great things about Kenaston School,” he said. “I’m familiar with the great spirit in the community and the school.”
He also said he jumped at the chance to work at an innovative school, pointing to recent developments with the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) and the school’s use of technology, and added he hopes Kenaston will continue in that direction.
McJannet is the middle child of John B. and Fay McJannet, and grew up on the family farm. He graduated from Davidson High School in 1990.
He received his bachelor of education from the University of Saskatchewan in 1996 and also completed his masters in educational leadership with the University of Calgary.
His first teaching job was in Île-à-la-Crosse, in the northwest part of the province, where he taught for three years. He then spent 10 years teaching in Carrot River, with one year as vice-principal and three years as principal at Carrot River Junior Senior High School.
McJannet later served for four years as principal at Outlook High School and also spent one year as superintendent of education with Prairie Valley School Division.
His wife Shannon operates a counselling and consulting business in Outlook and is also a youth counsellor for Sun West School Division. They have two children: Hannah, 14, and Ben, 11.
McJannet has been active as a coach of football, hockey and basketball, among other sports. He has also been involved as a music and drama director, as well as other extracurricular activities.
Having taught for much of his career in a high school environment, McJannet said he looks forward to joining a K-12 school.
The division reported that current Kenaston principal Ryan Johnson is taking on a leadership role as the Career and Work Exploration (CWEX) teacher for Kenaston, Davidson, Loreburn and the DLC students.
The announcement was one of several made recently by Sun West. The division also reported that Aaron Biberdorf, Kurtis Heath, Doug Jasper and Kim Johnson had been appointed as vice-principals for the DLC, joining new principal Jade Ballek.
With the impending retirement of Dr. Tracy Dollansky, superintendent of education, effective July 31, the division has also announced it has created two new assistant superintendent roles with the aim of developing better succession planning.
Taking on these roles for the 2015-16 school year are Kim Hobbs, current principal of Kindersley Composite School, and Vicki Moore, current principal of Elrose Composite School.