Longtime educator Phil Misecko experienced a new role this school year, serving as a head principal for the first time at Fegely Middle School. Misecko has enjoyed his first year in charge at FMS.
“It has been a fantastic year,” he said. “The students are awesome. The teachers are phenomenal. They’re so student-friendly and kid-centered. The parents have been very supportive. It’s just been a great year. Mrs. Alaniz, my assistant principal, is fantastic,” Misecko said.
Misecko, a Portage High School graduate, was familiar with Fegely after spending the 2010-2011 school year as an assistant principal there. He started his career in education by spending a decade at Hobart Middle School, before coming to PHS for a two year stint as an assistant principal under Caren Swickard. He then served as an assistant to Michelle Stewart at Willowcreek Middle School before moving to FMS to assist Rebecca Lyons. Misecko learned under all three principals, which helped him adjust to his role this school year.
“As an assistant principal you deal a lot with discipline and working with parents, students and teachers,” he said. “I think it helps you see the big picture of what needs to take place in order to get everybody on the same page and to have everyone work to the success and achievement of students.”
A lot of good has taken place inside the walls of Fegely Middle School during the 2011-2012 school year. Misecko and his staff of teachers strive to teach and help the students not only in academic areas, but also life-lessons and how to deal with problems. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers put together a team day, where all of the students took part in developing relationships with their team members and their teachers. The entire day was spent with the students going through various activities. Misecko has furthered his goal of developing a family within the school by implementing the theme of “hold the rope.”
“Middle School is especially emotional, scary and could be a terrible time for a lot of kids because of the developmental stage that they’re in,” he said. “Hold the rope is the idea that you’re hanging from the side of a mountain and the only thing between you and falling is one person holding the rope. Are you going to be somebody who holds the rope for another student and are you going to be a person who other kids will hold the rope for?”
FMS also created a family atmosphere within the classroom with its advisor classes, which is a 30 minute period each day, in order to give the students a core group to turn to if they experience any problems in their lives.
Misecko has spent time at both middle schools in the city of Portage. Even though they are located on the opposite sides of town and Willowcreek is approximately 400 students larger than Fegely, there are still many similarities between the two schools.
“Both buildings are filled with teachers that really care about kids,” Misecko said. “Both buildings have administrators and leaders that want to do what’s best for students. Both are filled with middle school kids that are kind of crazy. Whether you go to Willowcreek or Fegely, you will go through the same experience and learn the same type of things. When our kids feed into high school, all students have been prepared the same.”
Misecko, who went back to school to earn an administrative degree because he wanted the chance to have an impact on even more lives than he did as a teacher, enjoyed all aspects of working with the students and teachers of Fegely this year.
“It is very gratifying to see a collective group of professionals come together and really make their main objective and concern about the kids,” Misecko said. “It’s such a neat experience in the middle school to see these nervous sixth graders and to see them leave as mature eighth graders ready to start their high school careers, that’s very gratifying. It’s just been amazing to be able to teach, interact and to just be a part of so many lives.”
There is no doubt that Misecko is happy to spend his administrative career in this city.
“I live in Portage; I graduated from Portage High. I know this is a great place for a student to go through education,” he said. “I’m just happy to have had the opportunity to come back and be an administrator and hopefully give back to the teachers and the community that I feel shaped me and made me into the professional and the person that I am today.”