New principal spread
Beyond modifying the building, from adding new doors to changing the bell schedule, West also waved good luck to Erin Kohl, and hello to Lewis Malczewski, the new principal of Wildcat Nation. While students are trying to adjust to all the changes within the building, having a new principal adds another layer of unfamiliarity. Malczewski knows exactly how they feel as he adjusts to his new environment.
Not only is Malczewski new to the building, but he is new to the Oshkosh area.
“Originally, I grew up in Menasha,” he said. “I went to Carthage College in Kenosha, and I graduated from there with an exercise in sports science degree, and I played baseball there.”
While originally graduating with a degree in exercise in sports science, Malcweski went back and got a teaching license.
“I got my teaching license in Physical Education and Health,” he said. “I got my first job at Kenosha Unified School District as a PE and Health teacher at Mckinley Middle School.”
After attending Carthage, Malczewski traveled around the area, working at different districts and schools, while leading different grade levels.
However, Malczewski found his passion for teaching through playing baseball.
“I got to go to the College World Series to play baseball in my senior year at Carthage,” Malczewski said. “That was really awesome. Then I decided that I wanted to go into teaching since I enjoyed coaching. I coached baseball at Carthage for three years after I graduated, and I also coached a lot of high school baseball in the summers at Menasha. I did that for 10 years and I found that I really wanted to work with kids, so I went back to Carthage, and since I was a coach there, they helped me get my teaching license.”
Not only is Malcweski a huge fan of baseball, but he loves being outdoors in general.
“My in-laws have a cabin in Boulder Junction, and it’s right on the lake,” he said. “I just love to go up there because it’s so quiet and peaceful. I don’t hunt but I love being in the wilderness and seeing the trees start to change colors now. It’s really cool to see all the trees change colors in the wilderness compared to in the big cities.”
His family’s cabin on the lake also provides an opportunity for another value of his: spending time with his loved ones.
“I love to spend time with my family,” he said. “In Boulder Juncture, we go on the lake and do a lot of water sports, like water skiing, boating, jet skiing, and we have fun together as a family.”
Walking into his office, students will easily find another passion of his on full display; his love for Marvel’s Avengers.
“I'm an Avengers person, and I love all The Avengers things probably because when I grew up, I would read the comics,” he said. “When it comes to Avengers vs DC Comics, like I like them both, but The Avengers are more of my suit.”
Another pastime activity he enjoys is listening to music, more specifically, The Dave Matthews Band.
“I love to go to their concerts and listen to them,” he said. “What I love about them is the amount of different instruments they have and how awesome they sound when playing together. They’re very professional at what they do.”
Malczewski acknowledges that he is a new face to the building, and while that might be offputting, he assures students that he cares deeply about them.
“I am very easy-going; I like to talk to students and hear how their life is now, especially because when I went to high school, it was totally different,” he said. “I can't imagine being a teenager now, especially with social media and all the stress that comes with that. Technology is supposed to be a great thing we can use to be positive, but sometimes it turns negative, and I think that causes extra stress with students. I believe it is important that we work on that.”
While Malczewski has a lot to learn about the building and staff, he wants to make sure the students know that he is someone they can come to throughout the school year.
“I want students to know that I’m a person they can come and talk to because I have five children of my own that were in high school in the last five years, so I have a sense of what high school is like now for students,” he said. “I worked with my own kids on it, but I want to hear from students how things are going, their perspective, and so one of the things I'm going to do once I get more grounded and have worked with students is to focus on how to make our school a better place not only for staff but students as well.”
by Ruby Pluchinsky
Published October 2 2023
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue I