From Rawlins to Saratoga

In February, Darren Jennings, principal at Saratoga Elementary School, was offered a contract as district superintendent for Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2). Jennings accepted, which left the CCSD2 Board of Trustees with the task of finding someone to fill his position for next school year.

The search wasn’t long and came down to two candidates; Stephanie Long and Seth Hetherington. 

Long currently teaches 6th grade at Saratoga Elementary School and Hetherington currently teaches kindergarten and 1st grade physical education at Rawlins Elementary School. The two candidates answered a number of questions at a community forum held at the Platte Valley Community Center on March 16.

At the March 21 meeting of the Board of Trustees, a recommendation to offer the contract for Saratoga Elementary School principal to Hetherington passed unanimously.

During the March 16 community forum, Hetherington used the time and questions to provide some insight into himself and the approach he would take as the new administrator at the school. Raised in Colorado, he attended school at the University of Wyoming and moved to the state in 2010.

“I’ve lived in Carbon County for 12 years now and my wife’s been here for seven. When we got pregnant with our son, we thought about where we wanted to be and what we wanted for him,” said Hetherington, when asked why he wanted to be the Saratoga elementary principal. “We knew Carbon County was that but we didn’t know where in Carbon County.”

He explained further the reason Saratoga was on his and his wife’s radar was because they wanted to raise their son in what they saw as a wholesome community.

When asked what his leadership style was, Hetherington said, “I’m a lead by example person. I’m never going to ask a person to do something that I won’t do. If I’m not willing to do it, I’m not going to ask you to do it.”

Other questions asked of the candidates centered around the evaluation of teachers, how to deal with ineffective teachers and their approach to parent/teacher conflicts.

“You got to be in the classrooms, you’ve got to be walking around seeing things. One thing I really like is talking to the students because a student might have a certain way of learning but it’s getting through to that student,” said Hetherington regarding evaluation of teachers. “You have to be watching, you have to be visible and looking at things and paying attention to what’s going on in your building.”

As for conflicts between teachers and upset parents, Hetherington said he would support his staff but would reach out to a parent to try to address the issue. He added he would sit down with the parent to ensure their child was getting the best education they could through the school.

Hetherington’s contract as the principal for Saratoga Elementary School will begin the 2022/2023 school year.