Principal hired
Principal hired
By Jill Denning Gackle
Makoti native Troy Walters will be the new Garrison High School principal. Walters, currently a high school history teacher at Grenora Public High School and elementary principal, was hired Tuesday night and started work Wednesday.
Four board members, with the blessing of an interviewing committee, supported the decision to offer a 200-day contract. The salary will be in a to-be-determined $50,000 a year range, pro-rated based on his start date. (Board members making the decision were Duane Hummel, Daryl Engel, Penny Stryon and Melissa Rud.)
Walters will not be hired for the athletic director position, which was advertised as part of the job, because Superintendent Steve Brannan suggested the principal focus on academics for at least a year.
Walters, 38, previously taught at Linton, Williston, Sawyer, Sherwood and Anamoose. He said while growing up in Makoti, he played ball with Garrison and knew of Garrison’s academic achievements. “As I grew up, I realized this is a great place to live,” he said.
He said, “Garrison is an opportunity for me to be part of a community.” He said he and his wife recently built a house in rural Williston and he commutes to Grenora and she commutes to the Bainville, Mont. School. She is currently a kindergarten teacher but has also taught special education. She will fufill her contract in Bainville and join him after the current school year ends, he said.
Walters, described as a team player by the interview committee, used sports analogies in his interview. He talked about forming a team with teachers and letting students know when they’d fouled and how to follow life’s rules.
