Gorst to become Spencer district administrator

By Valorie Brecht No stranger to the Spencer School District, Jason Gorst is preparing to take on a larger role within the district as he will step into the position of school district administrator come July. Gorst will fill the role being vacated by Mike Endreas, who plans to retire.

Gorst shared a little about his educational background and what brought him to this point.

“I had some very influential teachers in high school in Granton who had a pretty big impact on me as a young person and I felt that I wanted to get into the profession to have that same type of impact,” said Gorst.

After high school, he attended what was then UW-Marshfield/Wood County, followed by UW-Stevens Point, and earned his bachelor’s degree in broadfield social sciences and history education. He spent the next 10 years teaching social studies at Spencer High School, including classes such as AP psychology, U.S. history, global issues, American social issues and sports psychology.

As the years passed by, he developed an interest in taking the next step in his career.

“I had discussions with various mentors who had made that move to go on

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to become a principal, and they said they felt you could have a wider spread impact because you’re dealing with more people. So kind of a combination of having that interest and administration at the time also encouraged me to look at that as a future path,” said Gorst.

He earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Viterbo University in La Crosse, and when the previous middle/high school principal retired, Gorst applied for and received that position. He is in his eighth year as 6-12 grade principal, and has found it rewarding in different ways.

“The ability to collaborate with other people (has been enjoyable). We’ve had a lot of young teachers come into the district, so I’ve been able to collaborate with them and watch them grow as a professional and celebrate their growth. Collaboration with staff members has been very rewarding,” said Gorst. “And then, in my particular position, you get to work with kids who make mistakes sometimes and I really do enjoy that, just in the sense of kids are kids and they’ll make mistakes, and how can we work with them through those.”

A few years ago, Gorst decided to take another step in his professional development and complete his certifi cation to be a superintendent, which he is in process of finishing through Concordia University. When the superintendent position opened up, he applied and was accepted.

To prepare for his new role, Gorst has been sitting in on a number of meetings such as budget, facility and policy meetings and has been involved with other “big picture” items.

As district administrator, he is looking forward to “trying something new, a new challenge, and continuing to learn,” and furthering the tradition of excellence he has been a part of in Spencer.

“I think, overall, we have a very good school district. We have a very good school board. I have had a very great mentor with Mike (Endreas) here; that’s taught me a lot. And we’re in a very sound financial situation, a very good facilities situation. We have an excellent teaching staff. And so there’s just a lot of nice things going on right now,” he said.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to play this role for the district. The district has been fantastic to my family and myself, and I just look forward to continue to build off the things we’ve been building.”

Gorst also serves as the head football coach and has coached a variety of youth sports over the years.

The school district is taking applications internally and externally to fill the middle/high school principal position, and plans to interview candidates in March.