Last year Jeff Ast taught social studies at Colwich Middle School, another school within our district. At the conclusion of last year Ast received the opportunity to move to Andale High School to teach Intro to Life Success to Freshman in the mornings and then heads to the middle school to teach weights in the afternoon. Ast grew up in Colwich and went to Andale High School was a part of the Class of 2016. Ast then had the opportunity to throw at Wichita State University. Although Ast did many sports, track and field was clearly his first choice. He threw the Javelin, Discus, and Shot Put for four years at WSU.
Ast’s best throw in Javelin was actually in high school. In Ast’s sophomore year he threw the school record of 226-2 feet. Then in his Junior year of high school he tore his UCL throwing the javelin in a meet. Ast also holds the school record in discus with a throw of 178-2 feet. In college Ast did not match that great throw because in college they throw a bigger discus. Ast was a pretty good shot putter too, Ast threw 55-7 feet in high school. Ast was in the upper 40’s throughout most of college. Reason being they throw a heavier shot put in high school.
After completing his degree at WSU he went to become a gym teacher in Wichita. After one year Ast came back to Colwich and taught Social Studies at Colwich Middle School. When asked why he chose to become a teacher, Mr. Ast said “I always looked up to my mom. She was a teacher before me and I saw how spending her time with kids made her happy. Then I got here (AHS) and I had some good teachers and coaches. I thought it would be cool to come back and help kids out like Coach Schmidt, Coach Smarsh, and Coach O’hair have. They obviously helped me get to where I wanted to be and I thought I could come back and help kids in the same shoes.” Now, Ast works part time at Andale High School and part time at Andale Middle school. “I enjoy it. It’s a good mix. I get to see the high school in the morning and the middle school in the afternoon so the days zoom by. I wanted to get back into P.E and this was a great opportunity for that to happen.”
Mr. Doresy Burgess is also one of the new faces in Renwick School District. Mr. Burgess used to work as an Assistant Principal at St Francis of Assisi for one year, and was also an Elementary Principal at Circle Benton for sixteen years. Mr. Burgess, also got his music degree and Master’s at Wichita State University. He too used to work at South Haven for six years before coming to Andale.
We had the opportunity to interview Mr. Burgess, the AES Principal, to find out more about his first few months within our district. When asked how he is liking Andale so far, he replied “Andale is a crazy good town. I like the values and the morals of the people of Andale. The kids are phenomenal and strive to do their best every day.”
We also asked Mr. B why he wanted to become a principal at AES upon which he replied, “I have had my eye on Andale for years. The values and the morals are what pulls me to Andale so much!” Burgess was looking for an opening in Renwick for a long time. There was no opening at the time, but there was an opening at another school that he decided to take for the time being. Mr. B loved, and enjoyed the experience of his past school.
When the opening became available at AES Mr. B said he felt lucky just to get an interview. When Ms. Bruce, the former USD 267 Superintendent, gave him the call and offered him the job he said “God was looking down blessing me”.
The very last question we asked Mr. Burgess was, “why did you want to become a principal in the first place?” His response was, I have been a principal since the early 2000s. The principal at the other school where he was teaching at the time asked Mr. Burgess to hire a band director, he set up interviews and got applicants for the spot then they ended up hiring one of them. After it was all said and done my principal said “have you ever thought of becoming a principal?”, Burgess replied with “well no I love teaching, I love what I am doing”. Burgess said that principal probably shook my tree for nearly one year about the idea. After that year Burgess said he would look into it. Since then Burgess has never looked back since!
Mr. Burke, the new CES Principal, was a former Assistant Principal at Ark City, and a Science Teacher at Arkansas City Public Schools in 2018. Burke was also an assistant coach for the track and football programs. When asked if he liked being a Science Teacher or Principal more, his answer was a principal, because he has the ability to impact more students, build a better culture for the school and make everyone around you a better person. Burke received his Master’s degree from Pittsburgh State University and graduated high school from Baxter Springs.
When asked why Burke transferred schools and became a principal he said “it was because I liked the area and the kids that we have. I enjoy the kids because they are driven academically, athletic, and they put others first.” Burke also enjoys the Colwich community. “It’s awesome that I can walk to school, church, and the grocery store. I can walk anywhere I want to all within my community. I’m closer to family here. I can play pickleball and see my kids have a good time at the park too” Burke said.
When you have the chance make sure you extend a warm welcome to Ast, Burgess and Burke as we’re happy to have them apart of our USD 267 family!
