Loriann Wessel named principal at Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center

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Students won’t be the only new faces at the Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center on the first day of school today.

After the retirement of Principal Linda Luedeman in the spring, the Seymour Community School Corp. board of trustees was tasked with finding a new leader.

They didn’t have to look far.

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In June, the board officially promoted Seymour Middle School Assistant Principal Loriann Wessel to the job.

Wessel, 35, is no stranger to the sixth grade center as she began working half days there this past school year as an assistant to Luedeman.

“I had always heard that the sixth grade center was a good place to work,” Wessel said. “The staff welcomed me like family.”

That made it an easy decision for Wessel to apply for the position.

“It’s where I wanted to begin my career as a principal,” she said.

Being an educator is the family business as both of Wessel’s parents taught for 39 years, and her grandfather served as a principal for many years, too.

“I was raised in a family of educators, so I always wanted to be a teacher,” the 2003 Brownstown Central High School graduate said. “I always enjoyed the community involvement that came with being a teacher’s kid.”

After teaching and coaching at the high school level for seven years in Salem in neighboring Washington County, Wessel said she knew she wanted to get into educational leadership and become an administrator.

That desire came from seeing how her grandfather was able to impact the lives of students and families outside of the classroom as a principal.

“This ability to build relationships with the school community is one of the main reasons I worked to become a principal,” she said.

Wessel spent five years at SMS serving as an assistant to former Principal J.B. Royer and current Principal Daniel Mendez.

At the middle school, she had the opportunity to work closely with teachers on designing instruction and managing student behavior.

“I have worked to get as much experience in diverse situations as I can,” she said. “I have developed and implemented schoolwide behavior management plans, and I have worked to lead professional development with teachers.”

She also has spent time working with families on individualized academic and behavior plans, which often resulted in a more positive and successful school experience for students.

“All of these experiences have taught me so much about leading a school,” she said. “The investment this corporation puts into the growth of their teachers and administrators is unmatched.”

Joining Wessel’s administrative team as assistant principal is Ashley Stahl, a former instructional coach at Seymour-Redding Elementary School.

“I am beyond excited to bring Ashley on board and tap into her experience,” Wessel said. “With our experiences combined, we are in a position to lead the sixth grade center into its next phase.”

The biggest challenge they face this year is the COVID-19 pandemic and getting back to what educators do best — educating their students after five months of not being in the classrooms.

“We know that the world is focusing on COVID and so are we, but we want our kids to come back to school and truly enjoy being here,” she said. “We want to keep our kids healthy and safe, while continuing to provide a high-quality education.”

With masks and social distancing, school will look different this year, but some things won’t change, she added.

“I have encouraged our staff to rise to the occasion of putting instruction at the forefront,” she said. “This year will provide so many opportunities for teachers to try new things. We have an opportunity to re-invent what teaching and learning look like.”

Wessel said the sixth grade center is often overlooked at having its own identity because students are only there for one school year.

“If I can do anything at the sixth grade center this year, it would be to continue sharing the wonderful things that are happening in this building,” she said. “We want to be more than a transition year from elementary school to middle school. We want to be the school that students are excited to attend and sad to leave.”

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Name: Loriann Wessel

Age: 35

Residence: Seymour

Position: New Principal of the Seymour Middle School Sixth Grade Center

Experience: Five years as assistant principal at Seymour Middle School and seven years as a social studies (government, economics and psychology) teacher at Salem High School in Washington County

Education: 2003 graduate of Brownstown Central High School; 2007 graduate of Indiana University with bachelor’s degree in secondary education; 2012 graduate of Ball State University with a master’s degree in educational administration

Family: Husband, John; daughter, Carly; son, Henry

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