Two school systems in Guthrie County have new administrators on the team coming into the 2024-25 school year.

Something that all three of these new administrators have in common is that they have been working in education for several years. For West Central Valley, Principal Randy Martin is going into his 45th year in the field of education. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that he made the switch from the classroom when he would’ve needed to return to college to become a mechanic as well as a teacher.

“I already had my Master’s Degree, I was already certified as a principal. I just loved teaching and coaching so I didn’t want to move up, and that got me to move. And now I’m to the point where I would not want to move back to a classroom, because I really enjoy working with all the kids and all the teachers.”

Adair – Casey / Guthrie Center High School Principal Brian Sauser says he did some work in administration, and knew that eventually he wanted to be a high school principal.

“I’ve always had a desire to lead a building. I really did have the desire to go back into a small town, just kind of what I’m familiar with, with growing up. And I really wanted to find a great school if I was going to do it. And AC/GC, even though the job came open kind of late, had a lot of the different things I was looking for, and it kind of all worked out where I went through the interview. I was fortunate enough to land the position, and it’s been a little bit of a whirlwind jumping into a new role, but it’s one that I’m certainly excited about.”

Guthrie Center Elementary Principal Tandem Eischeid shares what he did that helped him decide he wanted to step out of the classroom as well.

“I sought out leadership opportunities. My last seven years in Waukee was on the building leadership team, and that team consisted of making decisions how to use money, how to best support staff anyway we could. And I’ve been a teacher under three different principals, all very different in their styles, and I plan to take a little bit of every one of those three to kind of mold myself into being a good leader for AC/GC and Guthrie Center Elementary.”

All three of these principals begin work in their respective buildings later this month.