Back Home Again, Hunt Returns To Gifford

When Principal Les Hunt takes over next month at Gifford Elementary School, he will be returning to his academic roots.

If he needs any reminder, Hunt can simply look outside, where students planted a white, split birch tree in honor of his brother, Michael, who died the first time Hunt was a principal at Gifford.

“At the time, Gifford was kind of a training ground for future administrators,” said Hunt, who began his career as a school administrator when he joined the school in 1998 as an assistant principal.

It was a transition Hunt never expected to make.

“I was a second-grade teacher for 12 years, and I loved it. I never thought I would do anything else,” Hunt, 52, of Racine said.

When the district asked him to consider becoming a principal, Hunt wasn’t convinced. Then, a colleague put the opportunity in perspective.

“You’re just going from being a teacher or children to a teacher of teachers,” Hunt recalled.

As Hunt progressed from this training at Gifford to principal positions at North Park Elementary and, most recently, Red Apple Magnet School, he kept that mantra in mind.

Thirteen years into his role as an administrator, including seven at Red Apple, Hunt said he still aims to help teachers focus on teaching by dealing with parents and counseling students.

“That is really how you impact the classroom as a principal,” he said.

As he prepared to return to Gifford, Hunt said he was looking forward to using his teacher’s sensibility in his role as principal.

“For me, that’s where the real joy comes in – knowing the kids names, knowing their families and creating that feeling like somebody knows you and you belong,” he said.

It’s an opportunity, even after all his years as an administrator, that Hunt didn’t expect, largely because he was on the committee that chose Gifford Principal Jeff Eben; Hunt will replace Eben, who will move on to Case High School in Racine.

“I’m yesterday’s news. It’s all about this guy,” Eben said when they met this week at Gifford.

The two have joked about the odd symmetry of their moves since they began preparing to join their new schools.

In fact, Hunt and Eben have meet several times since the district announced their new positions, and they plan to stay in frequent contact as they transition into their new schools and beyond.