July 24, 2013 at 4:27 p.m.
Cheslock ready to start new job
Cheslock ready to start new job
Cheslock's hiring will not be official until the school board approves him in August but, thanks to an agreement between the board and superintendent Kelli Jacobi, he will start work early.
"He'll be starting before our next board meeting, but under a tentative agreement. The board, last week, gave me the authority to do the hiring all pending board approval," Jacobi said
"I believe he's going to start in early August, but his contract is pending board approval. We need him to start before the board actually meets in August, but until the board meets and approves the contract, nothing is official."
Cheslock takes over for Kim Swisher who resigned in June to take a position with the Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa as a communications coordinator.
Cheslock, a Rhinelander High School graduate, was employed with the Merrill School District during the 2012-'13 school year as the third and fourth grade teacher at Maple Grove School. Prior to his employment with Merrill, he was substitute teaching in Rhinelander and other surrounding school districts.
He has a degree and experience in business and marketing and was employed as the YMCA of the Northwoods Program Director from 2004-'08.
Now he's headed back to Rhinelander.
"I was thrilled (when I found out). I'm very excited. I'm excited to come back to Rhinelander. I've only been gone a year down here in Merrill, but Rhinelander is my hometown and I'm looking forward to getting closer to my friends and family again," Cheslock told the River News last week.
When asked about the challenges that await him, Cheslock cited finding a balance between the needs of the community and the needs of the district as his top priority.
"I think probably the biggest challenge is going to be balancing the community with the school district and bringing everyone together and getting everyone on the same page," he said. "Finding a balance and keeping everything organized and making sure everyone's needs are met will be the top priorities. Open communication with everyone is the main thing - keeping the communication lines open. I know I am going to be writing newsletters and things like that to make sure everyone stays informed, but I'll also use open communication through the media - the (newspaper), the radio, (television). Just keeping those doors open, I guess, is the main thing."
Cheslock said he will be meeting with Swisher immediately to make sure he continues the "great work" she has done over the years.
"The first thing I'm going to do is meet with Kim Swisher, the person that had the job before me. I want to make sure that I follow through on the great work that she had done with the district. So that's my first priority, just to maintain the great things that she has done," Cheslock said.
From there, Cheslock said he will be leaning on his experience as program director at the YMCA of the Northwoods to continue to move the district's community education program forward.
"After that, I come from the YMCA, I have a lot of experience organizing programs. I was the program director at the Y from '04 to '08. Right now, specifically, I just want to get my feet wet with the job and make sure that I'm upholding all of the things that Kim did, and then I'll start thinking about ways to implement new ideas," Cheslock said.
"I'm just really excited to get started. I'm excited to move back. I'm excited to start the new job. It'll be challenging but rewarding."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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