Gower West to Get New Principal

Gower West Elementary will have a new principal next school year.

At the Gower District 62 Board of Education meeting April 19, the board voted in favor of hiring Gina Rodewald to be Gower West Elementary School’s new principal.

Rodewald had a proven record of working effectively with parents, students and teachers to build a real sense of community in the school, Superintendent Steve Griesbach said in a separate interview.

Rodewald, who has been principal for the last 10 years at Central School in Lemont, said she was thrilled to have been appointed to the position.

“It’s a transition that I’m eagerly awaiting, and actually we’re going to start next week,” Rodewald said. “I’ll be meeting the staff and families for the first time on Tuesday night at their Family Reading Night. And I look forward to it.”

Tom Thering, the school’s current principal, is moving to New York for personal reasons, Griesbach said.

“We’re very appreciative of the work Mr. Thering’s done over the last four years at the school,” Griesbach said. “We were disappointed in his decision to leave, but we also look at it as an opportunity to bring in another strong school leader with excellent experiences, great communication skills and [who is] knowledgeable about teaching and learning.”

The new Gower West principal said she came from a family of teachers. Rodewald’s mother taught for almost 30 years, and several cousins are also teachers, she said. Early in her career Rodewald had enjoyed leadership positions and wanted to be part of an administrative team where she was able to reach more students than the 30 students that were in her classroom.

When asked if she had a vision for Gower West, Rodewald said she wanted to continue all the good teaching and high achievement that is happening there already.

“It’s a fabulous school district, and I’m very excited to be part of the team that strives for such high goals,” Rodewald said.

The search for a new principal began in earnest at the end of February, Griesbach said. This was the fifth search the superintendent has been involved in and there was a deeper pool of qualified candidates this time compared with previous searches, he said.

Griesbach told the board Rodewald topped 142 candidates for the position, according to a .

Griesbach said he attributed the deeper pool of qualified candidates to the increase of layoffs in the education field and to Gower's strong reputation making it an attractive option for educators. 

“I think people look at [the chance to work at Gower] as an excellent opportunity to lead, especially if you want to work in a small district,” Griesbach said.

Rodewald said she would miss teachers, staff, students and parents at Central. She has worked with most of the same staff for 10 years or more.

“I’m going to miss everyone terribly in District 113,” she said. “I’ve had such supportive parents and great kids at Central – it’s been a privilege to be able to serve that community for the last 14 years.”

“We have a terrific new principal here who will help to build on the work that Mr. Thering has done and make it an even better place,” Griesbach said.