“If a kid is in the hall and I can see they’re in distress, I’m going to them. I’m getting them the help they need,” says Katherine Devnich, Dean of Students at Central Kitsap highschool. Her hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail. The wall behind her neat desk is decorated with personal plaques and posters, and light streams in through the window beside her, illuminating her office. 

Devnich began working at CKHS around 16 years ago as a history teacher, a career she chose for the opportunity it gave her to positively impact people’s lives.  

“I always wanted to help people and work with people,” said Devnich. “And when I was in college, my freshman year I had it narrowed down to something in sports medicine, nursing, and I really enjoyed my history classes. So then I started thinking about becoming a history teacher, and then when I took a step back and thought about where I could make the biggest difference, I thought I would make the biggest difference in teaching.”

Through teaching, Devnich built meaningful and long lasting relationships with students, some of which continued beyond high school.

“I have students who I’ve been to their weddings, and I’ve been to their baby showers. I imagine someday I’ll have students who I get to work with their kids if I’m here long enough,” said Devnich.

Devnich has learned many important lessons throughout her years of teaching.

“I feel like I learned more from my students than they probably learned from me,” Devnich laughed. “I’ve learned patience, and what it means to give grace and forgiveness and understanding.”

Though Devnich loved teaching, she saw a need within the school that she wanted to help fill.

“Over the years, when I’m in my class having conversations with kids, I’ve heard a lot of complaints or things that they weren’t happy about,” said Devnich. “And I’m somebody who’s a doer. So I’m going to get in and if that means I’m cleaning up the cafeteria, that’s what I’m going to do.” 

When Devnich had the option to become Dean of Students, she saw an opportunity to fill the need she’d seen while being a teacher. The position also gave her the opportunity to impact more lives, which was the whole reason she’d started in this line of work in the first place.

“I thought, you know, I’m going to try it. I’m going to see if I can be in a position to serve more students,” said Devnich. “As a classroom teacher, on average, you have 150 kids that you impact, and I loved that. But as dean, if our student population is over 1600, That’s a much greater impact.”

Devnich has found that being Dean of Students is a complicated and unpredictable job. No two days are ever the same. 

“I like to start my day greeting kids with hand sanitizer as they come in,” Devnich laughed, “I get to do a lot of outreach. If a kid is in the hall and I can see they’re in distress, I’m going to them, I’m getting them the help they need.”

Though Devnich enjoys getting to help students, not all her duties as Dean of Students are as enjoyable. She doesn’t enjoy having to discipline students and hold them accountable for their actions, but keeping kids safe is her number one priority. 

Even if holding students accountable is her least favorite part of her job, she does it well. Miranda Smallwood, Assistant Principal at CKHS, says that Devnich’s ability to approach difficult situations with kindness is one of her biggest strengths as Dean.

“[Her ability to] hold students accountable in a way that’s kind … is a really important feature as a dean,” said Smallwood. “Really clear expectations [are] communicated with students, and [she is] always approaching [situations] from a point of care and concern.”

Devnich does not always work solely with students. Her job often involves visiting classrooms to assist teachers in mediating difficult situations.

“I’m constantly moving as Dean of Students, going from one place to the next,” said Devnich. “Supporting students number one, supporting teachers and their needs that they have with students. Sometimes teachers will call me up if they’re having a difficult situation with a student, and I can kind of mediate or assist in any way I can.”

Devnich went on to share some of the struggles she has faced as Dean, and the adjustments she has made within this new position.

“The first few months of school were really hard. I struggled,” said Devnich, “It’s a lonely position because as a classroom teacher you have lunch with staff members, and you work together to prep on things. As Dean of Students I don’t have a set day … I squeeze things in when I get the opportunity … And I have struggled professionally. This is a huge learning curve for me. But I think as we are entering almost February, I’m getting the hang of things and I’m finding that I’m having some success and so I’m enjoying it much more.”

Devnich has learned that, like most people, she thrives when she feels confident and successful within the job she is doing.

“It’s hard to do something when you don’t feel like you’re very successful,” said Devnich, “At least for me, and that could just be a Devnich flaw. I’m a perfectionist, so when things don’t go right, I struggle, But you know what, tomorrow is gonna be a new day and I’m gonna get a new opportunity. Some days I do really good work, and other days I wish I could have a redo, but that’s not how life works.”

Despite the initial struggle, Devnich seems to be doing her job well. According to Craig Johnson, Principal at CKHS, Devnich is just the woman for the job.

“Our goal is to have our staff members take on positions of leadership that align with their passions in supporting students,” said Johnson, “Ms. Devnich does a great job of being available to partner with our students and their families. She works with a variety of focus groups and shares the voice of the students she works with back to our staff.”

Smallwood agreed with what Johnson said, saying that despite a difficult and unpredictable year, Devnich has done her job as Dean of Students excellently.

“There were a lot of things we knew that we needed to be ready for, and so many that we didn’t know we needed to be ready for, and she has just really stepped into the role in a way to respond quickly and in an organized way,” said Smallwood.

Devnich shared some of the highlights of her career as Dean of Students, mainly the opportunity it gives her to meet more students at CK.

“I’ve gotten to meet students that I never would have crossed paths with if I was staying in the classroom,” said Devnich. “Not every kid wants to take Psychology, and there are several US History teachers. And so there are students who I’m meeting for the first time that are seniors and juniors. And so I really enjoy getting to meet more students at CKHS.”

Along with getting to meet new students, Devnich has also gotten to see the behind the scenes aspects of the school, and all of the people who help make it so great.

“It’s so much bigger than I thought it was as a classroom teacher,” said Devnich. “Our administrators, our assistant principals, and Mr. Johnson, our principal, they all work so hard. They work all the time. And you know, I didn’t see that because I was in my classroom. I didn’t see what our office managers, and Miss Aflleje our attendance secretary, and Miss Poplin, I didn’t get to see the work that so much of our staff does every day to give teachers the opportunity to teach in their classrooms … It’s so much bigger, I have such a greater appreciation for the entire staff that runs the school.”

Though she is enjoying being Dean of Students, and is appreciative of the new perspective it has given her, Devnich expects she will eventually go back to teaching.

“I think I have a teacher’s heart, and there are things I so desperately miss about the classroom,” said Devnich. 

Devnich says it may be some time before she makes the switch back to teaching. She is not one to back down once she has taken on a position, and wants to experience all that this new job has to offer before she moves on.

“I don’t think you can do this job for a year and have a full understanding of what the job is because it’s such a big learning curve,” said Devnich. “ So I imagine I’ll do some more work in this direction. But I think at some point, given the amount of stress that this job has, I might want to go back to the classroom.”