Q. Can you share what initially drew you to North Canton City Schools and why you decided to take on this leadership
role?

A. “My children have all gone to North Canton City Schools. My wife and I have been residents here of North Canton for the last 15 years, and so our oldest daughter started school here as a second grader, and was actually an eighth grader when I decided to come to the North Canton City Schools as the athletic director. It’s a great community.”

Q. What do you see as the biggest strengths of North Canton City Schools, and how do you plan to build on those strengths?

A. “[I’ve] always been very impressed with the school system and just very thankful to be able to be in this role, and have just enjoyed my time working here at North Canton City Schools. And when I think about the biggest strengths of North Canton City Schools, it’s our people, and we have great people here, from our community support to having great families and great students to having a tremendous staff that really invests in our kids and takes their jobs very seriously and does a great job with it. We have a great administrative team. And then finally, I would say, we have phenomenal alumni, and it’s really awesome to look out and to see what our alumni are doing in the world today as professionals, but also how much they still care about North Canton City Schools and how much the school district has made an impact on their lives.”

Q. What are some of the most immediate challenges you anticipate facing, and how do you plan to address them in your first year?

A. “When I think about some of the most immediate challenges, school funding is always an issue, and certainly there’s some uneasiness right now with the state budget and also the federal budget and how education will be funded, but I do think that we will end up in a good place. But again, we have a great staff and people who are very committed to delivering a great education to our students, and so we’re confident in that.”

Q. How do you plan to ensure that both students and staff feel supported in this new role?

A. “My biggest goal is to listen and to hear what the issues might be if they don’t feel supported, and then to do our best to connect with community resources to make sure that our staff and students both have everything that they need to be successful. I don’t have all the answers by any means, but I can listen and try to understand each person’s perspective and then try to figure out how we can best get them the resources that are necessary for us to provide great education for our students and for our students to feel like they have what they need to be successful as they launch out from our school district into their careers.”

Q. How do you plan to engage with the community [parents, teachers, and local organizations] about the future direction of the schools?

A. “I can tell you that the biggest advice that I’ve been given is to take a year and to listen and to not try to change too much initially. And so we’re going to do that throughout this first year; again, our school district is in a great place. We have a lot of exciting things happening, and so initially, we will try to kind of keep things on course and listen and try to make small improvements where we think we can. But ultimately, it’s about hearing from our community and hearing from our staff and seeing what things we can change in terms of the future direction of the schools. But our schools are on a great trajectory right now, and so there’s not a need to come in and to try to do a wholesale change. There’s always things we can improve upon. And so we want to find what those systems are and what those processes are that we can improve upon and make those changes over time.”

Q. What role do you see technology playing in the future of education within the district, and how do you plan to integrate it?

A. “Technology in the future of education is going to be significant. AI and some of the
different things that are out there are phenomenal resources that we’re going to have to be able to tap into and figure out how to best advance the educational experience of all our students. We have a great curriculum department. Mr. Pilati leads all of our curriculum for the district, and he and his team do a phenomenal job of keeping up with the technologies and latest opportunities that are out there. And so we will continue to look at how we can improve in that area.”

Q. What is your approach to dealing with budget constraints, and how will you ensure that the district makes the most effective use of available resources?

A. “There are always budget constraints, and we will try to make the best use of our resources that the taxpayers have given to us, and try to make that money go as far as possible. And so we are always evaluating our staffing. We are always evaluating different programs and different expenditures to make sure that we are getting the best education at the best value possible for our constituents.”

Q. What legacy do you hope to leave as superintendent of North Canton City Schools, and how do you hope the district will be different when you finish your tenure?

A. “I just have always tried in every position that I’ve been in to try to leave it better than what I found it. In this particular case, that’s going to be extremely difficult, because I think our school district is in a great place, but there’s always opportunities to improve and to get better. And so I hope that when I’m done here as a superintendent North Canton City Schools, that both our staff and our community will feel that we did our best work with integrity, and that we listened well, and that we tried to provide the best education that we could to all of our constituents and all of our students. So again, to be someone of integrity, to have listened well, and to have tried to help people achieve their goals academically to the best of our ability.”

Q. As you step into the role of superintendent, how has working under Mr. Wendorf as Projects Director and Treasurer shaped your approach to leadership?

A. “He has been a tremendous mentor and had a tremendous impact on me. I think one of Mr. Windows greatest strengths as a leader is that he trusts the leaders under him, and he allows you to do your job well, and he is there to guide you and to support you and help whenever possible. But he has a lot of confidence and a lot of confidence and a lot of trust in his team, and he has been a tremendous leader for our school district for the last nine years. He’s been a tremendous mentor to me, personally and to so many of our district administrators, as we’ve watched his example of leadership and as we have learned from him on that.”