All of James Sterner’s hard work and dedication has paid off. After receiving a masters in Education Leadership from Shippensburg, a high school teaching degree from Penn State and being a math teacher here at Susky, the 2016-2017 school year has welcomed Sterner as the new Assistant Principal.

While many of Sterner’s experiences qualified him for his new role, he believes his strongest characteristic is his ability to form relationships.

“The thing that most made me want to get this position, the thing that maybe most qualified me for this position, was the established relationship I already had. I worked for four years as a math teacher at the high school. I’ve worked closely with several other administrators here at the high school. When I was getting my masters, I actually interned with Dr. Bryson, so I have outstanding relationships and, I’ve had great mentors in seeking this position. Other than that, I think it was my ability to form relationships with students. Personally, I think it is something that is important and is a reason that, I would hope, they considered me for this position because I think it is important. Even with discipline, you can establish relationships and develop bonds with students,” said Sterner.

One such student that has a remarkable bond with Sterner is senior Hailey Miller.

“I had Mr. Sterner as my geometry teacher when I first moved here, and he was a great teacher. He would always make jokes and do funny things to make everyone laugh. But, he also had a serious side. He always wanted everyone to do well in his class, so he would take his time to explain everything so everyone would fully understand the concepts. Overall, he was my best and closest teacher I had my sophomore year,” said Miller.

Acquiring this new position is a positive addition to Sterner’s life. However, because he went to school for this, he knew this job would also bring him stress.

“It’s like getting a huge project assigned to you. There’s so many things to do that I feel like I’m back in college

because I’m learning so much. Everyday is different. It makes me feel busy everyday. I feel like I work a lot. I’m very tired when I go home because I’m trying to do my best everyday, and there’s a lot of different things that happen. It makes me feel busy, tired and challenged. There’s always so much to do,” said Sterner.

Miller has high hopes that Sterner will continue to shine in the school atmosphere, even with a lot in his hands.

“Mr. Sterner will be a successful assistant principal because he continues to be the funny yet serious person he is. With these qualities, he will always get along with all of the students but will still have authority,” said Miller.

The members of the school board collaborate on goals to accomplish throughout each school year. Along with the group goal, Sterner has created his own goals he wishes to pursue.

“I guess my [goal] would change every year. I feel like your goals would change every year. This year’s is to really learn the position. There’s a lot that I want to do; I really want to build on things that we have going on at Susky that

are good. We have our one-to-one initiative; the chromebooks. I think there’s so much more we can do as we try to make our school a school that not only teaches kids school stuff, but teaches them life stuff. I think there’s so much more we can do. I’d love to work with the community and have the community more involved with our school because I think the community has invested an interest in what our students are doing. You [students] are the future employees at their businesses. You are the future leaders of their community and of our nation. I would love to see the community get more involved. And that’s something that I definitely will work to make happen,” said Sterner.

Christopher Newland, a math teacher at the high school, reminisces on having Sterner just across the hall from him.

“I’ve been working with him for about 4 years. I will miss him as a teacher across the hall, but I look forward to working with him as an assistant principal now. I think he has the personality to get along with the staff, students and administration and he has the work ethic to do what’s needed for the job,” said Newland.

Sterner’s high aspirations and qualities will allow Sterner to succeed at any position, which he has already begun to show here at Susquehannock.