Pair of familiar faces will return to Rhinelander School District
While he may be the new guy in town, newly hired Rhinelander School District 7-12 Activities Director Brian Paulson is no stranger to Hodag sports.
“I remember playing Rhinelander when I was a player at Antigo,” Paulson said. “It was always a battle. Then as a coach for the girls’ basketball team in Antigo, we faced Rhinelander all the time.”
Paulson was named the new activities director at last Monday’s school board meeting and will begin his duties July 22.
“I was pretty excited and honored,” Paulson said. “I am very excited to be working with the coaches up here. And the Northwoods is such a beautiful place.”
Paulson was recently the athletic director at Marion High School, where he also served as physical education teacher and an assistant volleyball and basketball coach. Prior to that, he spent one season as the Antigo High School girls’ basketball coach and spent time during college as an assistant baseball coach at Appleton East High School.
Rhinelander Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said with Paulson’s experience he stood out above the rest of the field of candidates.
“We had two separate interview teams made up of teachers, administration, members of the public and students,” Jacobi said. “So it was a pretty good mix of the stakeholders involved. Brian came out as number one in both groups.”
Jacobi said Paulson brought a positive atmosphere in the interviews and was relatable.
“He is high energy and his experience with people skills really came through,” she said. “He really stood out above the rest.”
With the hiring coming in July, Paulson said he will have to hit the ground running because the summer is all about preparing for fall. After spending last week, shoring up schedules at Marion so that school was set in fall, Paulson will have to quickly do the same for Rhinelander.
“We are getting pretty late in the game,” he said. “It will come down to how many games are already scheduled and then finding workers for the games and making sure we have the officials lined up. There is a lot that goes into getting ready for the season.”
Huseby named Crescent School Principal
Another familiar face will return to the Rhinelander School District as the board also approved the hiring of Kelly Huseby as the principal at Crescent Elementary School.
Huseby was formerly employed in the district as the Lead Title I Teacher/Coordinator for five years. She most recently served as the Title I coordinator, middle school principal and director of instruction for the Tomahawk School District.
“We are very excited to have Kelly back,” Jacobi said. “She is definitely a people person. She has high energy and she knows the school.”
Huseby said she is happy to be working in the district she calls home.
“I was thrilled and extremely excited to be hired,” Huseby said. “This is where I live, this is where my children go to school. This is my home.”
Huseby said it has always been a professional goal of hers to become an elementary school principal.
“I love the primary age children,” she said. “I got my start as a K through third grade teacher.”
Huseby will begin her duties Monday and will meet with former Crescent School principal Teri Maney to get up to speed with the issues facing the school. Maney left the principal position to become the district’s Director of Instruction
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