Rotarians welcome Gilbert principal, counselor

WINSTED » As the new school year nears, The Gilbert School is working to increase collaboration, both within the building and beyond, and help students home in on a professional career.

Newly-appointed Principal Sue Soijka and counselor Katieann Pirog discussed the state of the school and planned initiatives for the new year with the Torrington-Winsted Area Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon.

Pirog discussed a new career development center being offered at the school and asked Rotarians to reach out if interested in

building relationships with the semi-private institution.

“Coming to the Rotary Club, we hope that we can forge relationships to find our students opportunities within the community for things like internships, job-shadowing, to forge relationships in which we can have conversations about how markets are changing,” said Pirog.

The center will aim to help Gilbert students and alumns in their efforts to find a rewarding career, Pirog said. The number of students choosing options

other than traditional higher education has increased, Pirog said, along with the cost of attending college, making other choices, like entering the professional world, opening a business, or joining the military, a better option.

“We wanted to respond to that,” said Pirog.

After three years as a guidance counselor at Gilbert, Pirog has taken on the responsibility of helping students chart a path forward, gain awareness of their strengths, weaknesses, and capacities, and connect them with opportunities in the modern economy.

College-bound students can also find help choosing

a major, she said, and alumni can reach out for support as they navigate the post-Gilbert world. The door is always open, Pirog said.

She hopes the new initiative will aid students, and help them be more optimistic about their professional options. In addition to internships and job-shadowing, semester courses are planned.

Among other aspects of life in the school, Soijka discussed a series of collaborative and integrative measures underway at the school with Rotarians Tuesday.

The middle and high school within Gilbert are being merged for the coming year, Soijka said, with

more sharing and collaboration among teachers and administrators. Administrators for the school international program, which currently includes 80 students and is projected to increase to 100 by January, have moved into the building from the Gilbert Trust offices and Timothy Cronin, who oversees the program, has been added to the administrative team.

Soijka was appointed as the new Gilbert principal in June — the first woman to be named to the position — after Principal Alan Strauss resigned to take a job in Massachusetts.

She previously served as the middle school principal, overseeing seventh

and eighth graders, and is entering her seventh year as an administrator with the school. That experience, she said, in part spurred the shift, as a series of changes in administration spurred reflection on the future of the school. Former Dean of Students Patrick Cook has returned to working as the school athletic director, and the 2017 teacher of the year Maura Hurley has become a dean.

“This is an area that we wanted to strengthen, and really become one school, 7-12,” said Soijka.

The emphasis on collaboration extends beyond the school walls, Soijka said.

Spurred by a gathering

to discuss an annual time capsule project, administrators with Gilbert, Region 7, Winchester, and St. Anthony School’s have established a monthly meeting, Soijka said.

“We were all in this room trying to figure out this project, and we sat there and said ‘why don’t we do this more often? Why don’t we meet and collaborate,” said Soijka. “They’re all our kids.”

Gilbert and Winchester schools are also working to align curriculum, Soijka said, establishing common benchmarks and standards, and Winchester teachers have been invited to take part in professional development.