COWANSVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – It was almost inevitable that Mike Stimac would one day be principal at Sugarcreek Elementary School in the Karns City School District.
He remembers as an 11th grade student at Karns City telling the principal, Mr. Beck, that he would come back and take his job some day.
Stimac stepped down from his position as Clarion-Limestone Superintendent last week and started his new position on Thursday, January 19. Even though the job change is not considered to be a professional or financial advancement, Stimac felt he was guided to accept the new position. Former superintendent J.J. Johnson was appointed acting C-L superintendent.
“First and foremost, I grew up in East Brady and went to the Karns City School District,” said Stimac. “I personally had a fantastic experience as a student and had an amazing experience growing up in the East Brady area.”
“It’s not a step up in any way,” said Stimac when asked about the change. “Financially, I took a pay cut to come here. I feel I’ve been guided here for a reason. Professionally, I’m only 31-years-old, and I have plenty of time to aspire to be a superintendent again. One of the things I’ve learned over the last year-and-a-half as superintendent is that my gifts are with kids….No, it’s not a step up, and that’s not important to me. What was important to be is using my gifts and talents.”
Stimac was an English teacher at Oil City for five years and was at Clarion-Limestone for three-and-a-half years — one-and-a-half as superintendent. Stimac was contacted numerous times over the years about coming back to Karns City, and he never applied, but recently the calls increased, and one last request asking him to apply for the principal position got his attention. This time was different.
“One day I went home to my wife after I received the last call from Karns City asking me to at least apply for the principal position,” said Stimac. “I asked my wife if I was missing something… am I supposed to work at Karns City? I’m a pretty faithful guy and believe that God has a plan for us. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to pray a little bit on this and see if God really wants me to be at Karns City.’ I had faith he would either say to me ‘yeah, you should go back to Karns City, or you should stay at Clarion-Limestone,’ but you need to apply first to make sure you’re supposed to be there or Clarion-Limestone.”
“I applied two days before the deadline, and I applied with the mindset that if got the job, I would be a person in the Karns City District who makes a difference for kids. I want to bring some energy. I want to be a role model for them, so they have someone who they can look at say ‘Wow, I like the way that guy acts. I like the way he treats people and the way he is kind to people…how he shows love and appreciation.’ I want to be like that.”
“What an opportunity for me to go back to my home district to have that type of impact! I thought I made that type of impact at Clarion-Limestone. I had an amazing rapport with the students, faculty, and staff. I’m still going to remain close with those people. We loved that area, and we love the people in the community. There’s no question about it. They’re good people at C-L.“
A personal component of his decision to accept the position is he wanted to be close to his family. He always considered himself a family man and wanted to help however he could. He often told people, “I want to go and shovel my grandpa’s sidewalk; I want to mow his grass. I want my kids to grow up with their family around them. They are all important to me.”
Number one before test scores, before academics, Stimac’s goal has always been to help people fulfill their potential as people. Be kind, respectful and loving to other people, and he’s a firm believer that when you do that for people and show them those things that there’s nothing they won’t do for you.
“It’s not that I wasn’t comfortable as a superintendent — because, I was. I believe I was comfortable as the superintendent because the people I worked with were awesome people and knew what they were doing,” said Stimac.
“We tackled things as a team with everything. I felt 100 percent comfortable in my role as superintendent because of those people. I learned that I needed to be with kids more often to have the impact I want to make. This gives me that opportunity to do that. I’ve never done it at an elementary level, yet. I was at middle school and high school at Oil City. This is my first exposure to elementary age kids, although I did have some as superintendent at C-L. I’ll be on the ground more with these kids, and that’s important to me.”
Mike and wife Felicia have two children, Jack, 3, and Lucy, 10 months.
