Robert Wickware, vice principal, talks with students at Churchill County Middle School.
The new vice principal helping to take the helm at Churchill County Middle School is former teacher Robert Wickware.
Born in Fallon, he graduated from the high school in 1999 and received a college baseball scholarship, graduating with an education degree focused on social studies. His first position was at the middle school, teaching geography and sports history but mainly eighth-grade U.S. history.
Wickware said he wanted to study education after going through an exploratory teaching class while in high school. Later in his career, he was very interested in administration but really liked being in the classroom — so he said it was a tough decision.
Two years after earning his administration masters, he took a position in Lyon County at Riverview Elementary School as dean of students. Two years later, Fallon’s middle school vice-principal position opened up.
“It was nice to be able to limit the commute,” Wickware admitted, “but this school at this time, it was the right opportunity … I wanted not to just go into a VP role to just go into a VP role; I wanted it to be a good fit for me. When I heard this position was available, that seemed like a perfect fit not just a good one.”
It was also at the school he attended junior high and had taught at for 10 years, he said. And he agreed it does have good curb appeal.
“It’s been an easier transition knowing quite a majority of the staff and working with them for quite a while,” Wickware said. “And knowing the school, that was a big help.”
The vice principal also helps coach the Muckdogs Baseball Club in Reno. He previously worked with the 11-year-old team but is currently coaching the 18-year-olds and assisting them with college recruitment.
“It’s a lot of fun working with kids and being able to coach a sport I love,” he said, “and getting them the opportunity to go play college baseball if they want to.”
He said students and teachers have been excited about the recent Google Chromebooks deployment, stating it’s a big change for the school. He said it brings a huge tool teachers are going to use in the classroom.
“It really is hard,” said Dr. Sandra Sheldon, superintendent of schools, about the district choosing between top-tier candidates when administrator positions become available. But she explained how Wickware rose above all and was a great match for the position.