Fairbanks educator hired as middle/high school principal

An experienced Fairbanks educator who has dreamed of moving to Southeast for years will finally achieve his goal when he starts work in August as the new secondary school principal in Wrangell.

Greg Clark will be the new principal for the high school and middle school. He was among 16 applicants and chosen from three finalists. The school board approved the contract and Schools Superintendent Bill Burr hired Clark on March 18.

He will replace Jackie Hanson, who is leaving at the end of the school year.

"Coming to Southeast Alaska has been my goal since 27 years ago when I first moved to Alaska," Clark said. He moved from the outskirts of Portland to Fairbanks for college to study wildlife biology because tuition was cheaper. "I always planned on moving to the coast, so I guess it's finally going to happen,"

He added that one reason he loves the coast is that he is an avid fisherman. "I always make the joke here in Fairbanks, 'You know, there's places you can fish year-round, why am I in Fairbanks?'"

Clark is completing his first year as assistant principal at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks. Before that, he served in the same position at Tanana Middle School in the same district. At Lathrop, he has been focused on disciplinary and counseling actions for troubled kids.

He sees the Wrangell job as an opportunity to concentrate less on discipline and to get more involved on a broader scale, including working with teachers and students to increase career and technical education opportunities for students.

In his 16 years as an educator, Clark has worked in many roles in addition to administrator, including safety assistant, and a teacher in science, math and career and technical education. He is also a board member and Interior region representative of the Alaska Society for Technology in Education, as well as a trainer with the Teaching Through Technology (T3) program.

The only time that Clark has been through Wrangell was when he drove a truck to Fairbanks from the Lower 48 and stopped in town aboard a state ferry, but he hopes to visit before the big move. His wife, daughter (a Lathrop student) and son will not be coming with him for the time being. "Right now, I'll be the only one heading down," he said. "Me and my dogs."

Clark expects his move to take place in mid to late summer. He will start the job in August.