Earle McWright is Central Kitsap High School’s newest assistant principal, having transferred from Orting Middle School in Orting, Wash. and before that, Perry G. Keithley Middle School in Tacoma, Wash.
Before teaching, he started his education journey in a college in Texas and finished his teaching degree at the University of Washington. Once he started teaching, he said it felt easier to start off at his home district, Pierce, since that’s where he initially grew up for 25 years.
“I would say, I might have had a clearer entry path than some people do,” McWright said. “I got started in the district that I went to as a student that I grew up in…because the truth is, relationships matter. Networking matters, people who know you and know your history…all that matters.”
Initially, McWright wanted to be a professional athlete and began coaching high school basketball and tennis before going off to college.
“A good friend of mine was a teacher when I was first getting in [to teaching],” McWright said. “He was the assistant principal, and eventually the principal, and while I was teaching, he encouraged me to consider going to school leadership.”
After several years of teaching at middle schools outside the Central Kitsap School District, McWright decided to work at CKHS.
“I actually had some life changes [to be] moved to this area,” McWright said. “My wife and her daughter went to CK, so I had heard good things about the school, and it led me to check it out, and the position opened up, and it just felt like all the stars had aligned.”
While at CKHS, McWright has left some impressions on the staff, especially Katie Kiyimba, McWright’s assistant principal partner who’s been at CKHS for three years.
“It is a lot of fun working with Mr. McWright,” Kiyimba said. “He has a lot of energy and brings a lot of ideas and a lot of creative things for the school and it’s been great to have him.”
McWright has also been involved in some of the students’ lives with the Associated Student Body. He helps out by supporting and even creating ideas from past school experiences for the ASB to use.
“…Back in the last week before winter break, we did a lot of activities, and one of those was turkey bowling, which Mr. McWright completely came up with,” senior Nicholas Brazier said. “It’s something that he brought from a previous school he’s worked at, and that was something that we kind of coordinated together on, and he was a really great supporter of all the activities that we’re trying to do as ASB.”
Almost every morning McWright stands outside, greeting students with both a smile and a cowbell. During both lunch waves, he hangs out in the commons to watch over the students and also goes around helping pick up trash.
“Every day I see him super engaged at school,” Braizer said. “Whether that’s welcoming kids in the roundabout or helping out with school activities in the lunchroom or supervising in the halls. He’s always really friendly and just a great presence to be around.”
