Incoming School Superintendent John Strycker Visits Butler County Schools
Butler County Schools Incoming Superintendent John Strycker doesn’t officially take over the school system until June, but he’s making the rounds on the last day of school trying to meet some of his students and teachers before he moves in permanently.
Strycker visited all three county high schools on Wednesday to introduce himself to the rising senior classes. He’s hoping to make a special connection with the students who will make up his first graduating class.
“I see the senior class, this year’s juniors, as my end product,” Strycker says. “And I take ownership of that – good, bad, indifferent. I take ownership of those kids when they walk off that graduation stage.”
The class of 2018 will also be reading the book “Success is a Choice” by Rick Pitino during the school year. Strycker will be reading the same book, and he’ll meet once or twice a week to discuss the book and what’s going on in the students’ lives. He’s done readings with his senior class every year since he became a superintendent, and says it helps him develop life long relationships with his students.
“Shame on us if we just say ‘You graduate, you’re done.’ Or even during that senior year. Or any year. So yeah, I’m there for the kids the best I can be. Up to and including eight or ten years later,” he says.
Stryker comes from Michigan where he was a superintendent for thirteen years before taking the job in Butler County. He’ll take over the position permanently in June when current superintendent Amy Bryan retires.
