The Crookston School District is currently narrowing down its list of candidates for a new Activities Director. After starting with a pool of 12 different applicants, School District Superintendent Jeremy Olson, the Crookston School Board, and Interview Committee have narrowed it down to four candidates that they plan to interview for the position.
The four finalists are-
Cody Brekken, Crookston Pool Director and Pirate boys and girls tennis coach.
Nathan Lubarski of Crookston United Insurance and Crookston Football Coach.
Aaron La Deaux, from Grand Forks.
Kyle Hanson, a teacher and coach from East Grand Forks.
The four applicants had excellent references and past experiences that gave them an edge over the other applicants for the chance to be interviewed. The School Board is looking for someone who will be visible, organized, and have a nice balance between the three things the Activities Director covers: athletics, academics, and fine arts. They will also have to add strong programming and representation in all three activities and be approachable for the students and provide strategy, recommendations, or changes for the programs for the students, both in the High School and in the Elementary and Pre-School. That they see it as a system and how their position will impact the district and community, not just a single position for one of the schools. “This is a big position,” said Superintendent Olson. “The next person is going to have a have a really nice balanced series of dispositions and skills to move us in the right direction.”
Now Olson will take the applicants through an interview process with the Interview Committee to make the final decisions of who will get the job. “The School Board ultimately approves the final decision. We are going to be doing a committee hiring process so that we are going to get input from the entire committee on the applicants,” said Olson. “From the interview process, I’ll be taking an applicant before the School Board to get approval for the process. So it starts off through a recommendation from that Interview Committee, we take that individual to the full School Board.”
While the search ha narrowed, they currently have no set date for when the position will be filled. Interviews for the four candidates will begin this Saturday, March 12.
