School candidates largely from Oregon

The seven semifinalists for Sisters School Superintendent are a varied lot, but not geographically. All but one already work in Oregon, three in Central Oregon.

Redmond Superintendent Jerry Colonna, who is helping to coordinate the search, told The Nugget that "out-of-state candidates are shying away from Oregon because of our financial situation, so the out-of-state pool has really gone down."

The fact that 28 other Oregon districts are looking for chief executives is also a limiting factor. Colonna was selected Monday as superintendent of Beaverton schools.

The candidates will be interviewed by the Sisters School Board Friday and Saturday, March 14-15. Quotes in the descriptions are from answers to the question: Why are you interested in the Sisters job?

Merrill Adams (goes by Jack).

Age: 56.

Family: Married, three children.

Birthplace: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

As an educator, Adams has always worked in Washington. He began teaching in Kelso in 1972 and later moved to Blaine. In 1977 he became the state's youngest school superintendent, taking the helm at Toutle Lake, where he stayed for 15 years. In 1993 he became superintendent in Montesano and in 1999 took his current superintendency, in Colville. He says he has now served as a school superintendent longer than any of his contemporaries in Washington.

He is looking to Oregon partly because this is his 30th year in the Washington education system which means his retirement credits are maxed out. He is also a finalist for superintendent of Reynolds School District near Portland.

Within this group of candidates Adams is unique in several respects, including the fact that during the 15 years he lived in Toutle Lake he operated a skydiving business. He learned to parachute during service with the Army Special Forces in Vietnam.

"I really like that area (Sisters). We've been down there for recreation... and I would like to put in another 10 years in education, or at least eight...I have a great wealth of experience, you know, and I think I could be helpful to the community and helpful to that area and I want to work 10 more years."

Tim Comfort

Age: 47.

Family: Married, three children, all in college.

Birthplace: Boston.

Comfort is widely known in the Sisters area, where he has been principal of the elementary school since 1995. His career has combined school psychology and administration.

He began as a school psychologist in Jackson, Wyoming in 1981, moving to Oregon in 1988 to become coordinator and supervisor of psychological services for the Education Service District that serves the schools in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties.

In 1991 he became assistant principal of Obsidian Junior High School in Redmond, his last job before coming to Sisters.

Comfort says that although he has lived in a variety of places he has deep family roots in Oregon. Both of his parents obtained degrees from Linfield College and his grandfather was a high school principal in The Dalles.

"I've been in many different states...and I've worked in the entire Central Oregon area as a school psychologist. And Sisters far and away has the best community support and real commitment to education. It's rare, and once you see it and you feel it and do it it's kind of like, wow, let's make sure this continues. It's a pretty special thing."

Consuelo Yvonne Curtis (goes by Yvonne).

Age: 44.

Family: Married, in the process of adopting a child.

Birthplace: Albuquerque, N.M.

Curtis has been the principal of Terrebonne Elementary School, part of the Redmond School District, since 1997. Before that she served one year as an assistant principal of Jefferson County Middle School in Madras. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in San Diego in 1984, moving to a teaching job (combined fourth and fifth grades) at Bear Creek School in Bend in 1989, where she worked for eight years.

"My husband and I belong to a church in Sisters and we have been drawn to Sisters ever since we moved to Central Oregon."

"We always keep saying that's the next place we want to go. When the position opened up I was delighted to have the opportunity to apply because of what I know about the Sisters community. It has a very strong community spirit. I know that the schools are very focused on academic excellence and offering a lot of options to kids as far as having a very well-rounded education in art and music and sports and all of that.

"I believe my philosophy is right in line with Sisters' philosophy in offering opportunities to kids that even extend beyond the school day."

Judith A. Delahunt (goes by Judy).

Age: 60.

Family: Married, five grown children.

Birthplace: Michigan.

For the past two years, Delahunt has been the Central Oregon program director for the Initial Administrator Licensure Program operated by the University of Oregon. She has an office on the Central Oregon Community College campus in Bend.

She has strong ties to the Redmond School District, where she was director of personnel from 1996 to 1999. For a year following that she had a special assignment as the board's planning director for new schools.

She is currently a member of the Redmond School Board, having accepted an interim appointment for one year to fill the unexpired term of Neil Thompson, the Sisters City Planning Director, who resigned from the board last year. She does not plan to seek election to the full term that begins in July.

Delahunt began her career as a classroom and special education teacher in the Hillsboro area. From 1984 to 1996 she served as a principal of elementary and junior high schools in Beaverton, Tigard and eventually Redmond.

"There are very few superintendent positions that I would apply for, but living in Central Oregon I know about the exceptional quality of the district (Sisters). I know that there is a great deal of community involvement. I think that to be an effective superintendent in Sisters one would need to be not only a school leader but a community leader.

"I've had an opportunity to work for several (community) boards in Redmond...and have been able to do a lot of community work. I'd like to couple that with my professional experience as an educator and find a perfect match for my skills at this time in my life."

Charles Hellman

Age: 59.

Family: Divorced, one son.

Birthplace: Brooklyn.

Hellman, who lives in Medford, has been the superintendent of Rogue River School District north of Medford for the past 12 years. He first came to the district in 1989 as an assistant principal of the high school.

His career began in New York City, where he taught in an elementary school for four years. He then moved across the country and taught and later served as head counselor in several San Francisco elementary and middle schools. He was a middle school assistant principal at the time he accepted the high school job in Rogue River.

"I'm interested in the (Sisters) school district because of its reputation for excellent programs and community involvement. It's exactly the size of district that I'm used to and favor in terms of getting a quality education job done...I enjoy the area; I have been to Bend and Sisters many times over the years and think it's a beautiful area..."

Douglas Clayton Jantzi (goes by Doug).

Age: 47.

Family: Married, two children.

Birthplace: Lebanon, Ore.

He has been the director of secondary education and director of curriculum assessment for Central Point Schools near Medford since 1999. The district covers the separate communities of Gold Hill and Sams Valley.

Immediately before taking this post, he spent six years with Greater Albany Public Schools as a coordinator of matters related to the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, the school reform law adopted by the Legislature in 1991.

Between 1991-93 Jantzi worked in the State Department of Education doing research and development related to implementing the reform bill, working specifically on the Certificate of Advanced Mastery (CAM ) program.

He began his career as a teacher and coordinator of business-related subjects and computer applications at North Medford High. After 10 years there he moved to Treasure Valley community College as an associate dean for one year, 1990-91.

"(Sisters) is one of my favorite places to be and I look at Sisters as being a very successful school district."

"(I would be) following a very successful superintendent there, which is a little scary in itself. But it's nice to have that for a superintendent's position in a district that is as solid as any school district can be right now in the state of Oregon. So it just looks like a great place to live and work."

Wayne D. Kostur

Age: 49.

Family: Married, two children.

Birthplace: Portland.

Kostur is the superintendent of schools in Rainier on the Columbia River in northwest Oregon. He has spent his entire career in the state except for a three-year diversion to Texas.

To track him chronologically: He was a band director for grades five to 12 in Amity from 1975 to 1977; band director for grades 9-12 in Gladstone from 1977 to 1982; head band director for grades 6-12 in Mt. Vernon, Texas from 1982 to 1985; band director for grades 6-12 in Sweet Home in 1985-86; the junior/senior high principal in Adrian from 1986 to 1989; a high school principal in Athena-Weston School District from 1989 to 1995; and a high school principal in Rainier from 1995 until he became superintendent two years later.

When asked if he has been able to keep in touch with music since becoming a full-time administrator, the peripatetic educator said: "Yes, and I'll tell you how. A couple of times every year I go down and sit and play with the pep band."

He usually plays the trombone, although he can play a number of instruments.

"But I don't last long. My chops don't last long at all."

As for the Sisters job, he said: "I've heard a lot of good things about the Sisters School District and the direction they're headed. The community supports the school district very strongly and that's very appealing. I also know that Sisters has been on the leading edge of technology for some time and at Athena and Rainier I led the charge to put in their technology backbone and put computers on teachers' desks.

"I think there are some really positive things about (the district) that seem really exciting...I think it'd be fun."