From war zone to school zone

Aug. 29, 2019

By Ed Byrne

The Brillion News

WRIGHTSTOWN – By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, we should know whether working in a combat zone helps someone survive the first year as an elementary school teacher.

That’s where Logan Gruszynski enters the picture.

It was a year ago that he took a job as the music teacher at Wrightstown Elementary School, soon after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Then Uncle Sam tapped him on the shoulder.

“I accepted the [teaching] position before I knew I was going to be deploying, before I actually had my orders,” Gruszynski said.

He notified the school district that he couldn’t take the job after all because of his National Guard deployment.

The options for the school were simple: offer the job to the second-choice applicant, or hold the job for Gruszynski and fill it with a one-year temporary position.

The school district wanted Gruszynski teaching in the elementary school and hired an interim teacher, Stacey Juelich, on a one-year appointment.

“I am thankful for that,” Gruszynski said. “[Superintendent] Carla [Buboltz] and the staff here are just awesome. They were so supportive. They reassured me that they had hired me for a reason and they thought I was the best fit for Wrightstown … When I got back, they welcomed me with open arms.”

The deployment was in two hot spots: Afghanistan and several Arab nations near Saudi Arabia.

Throughout his deployment overseas, the school kept in communication with Gruszynski.

Please see the complete story in the Aug. 29, 2019 edition of The Brillion News.