October is School Principals Month in Ohio, and Perkins Schools is saluting the six principals who run the district’s four buildings. Perkins Local School District Board of Education congratulated them during the regular October meeting on Wednesday, October 12.
The principals are:
Jeff Harbal, who is the school district’s current longest serving principal, has been principal at Perkins High School since 2016. Prior to becoming principal, he had been an assistant principal for two years. Mr. Harbal taught math for 12 years, six at Margaretta and six at PHS.
Mr. Harbal graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 2002 and his master's in administration from BGSU. He earned his principal’s license from Ashland University.
Drew Davie is the assistant principal at PHS, a post he’s had since 2016. He previously was the athletic director at Danbury Local Schools for eight years. He taught physical education for two years at Western Reserve Elementary and two years at Danbury Middle-High School.
Mr. Davie earned his bachelor’s degree from Capital University, where he played basketball for four years, and earned his master’s in administration from Ashland University. He also is a 1999 PHS grad, and a three-sport athlete.
“It has been a goal of mine to be in education at my alma mater,” Mr. Davie said. “I had such a great experience as a student at Perkins High School that it made me want to come back.”
At Briar Middle School, Jeff Thom has been principal since 2020. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Principal at Briar for five years, and had taught art at Briar and Meadowlawn Intermediate School for 15 years.
Mr. Thom earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1999 and his master’s degree in education from Marygrove College in 2004. He earned his principal’s license from Cleveland State in 2015.
Mr. Thom graduated from Perkins High in 1990. Mr. Thom also is well-known for a 30-year tenure as a wrestling coach at Perkins. He originally went to the University of Toledo for marine biology, and also earned a graphic design degree from Terra State in 1994.
At the start of the 2021-2022 school year, Erick Weisenberger moved into the assistant principal office at Briar Middle School. Prior to that, Mr. Weisenberger was an intervention specialist at Perkins Schools for 21 years.
Mr. Weisenberger has a bachelor’s degree in education from Ashland University and a master’s degree in administration (K-12) from BGSU.
Jeremy Hiser has been principal at Meadowlawn Intermediate School since the start of the 2018-2019 school year. Prior to becoming an administrator, he taught pre-algebra at Briar Middle School and in 2010 began teaching at PHS, “where I taught literally every single mathematics course (except Calculus),” he said.
Mr. Hiser graduated from Sandusky High School in 1994. After a stint in retail management, he went back to college, graduating from BGSU in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and in 2009 with his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. He earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Cleveland State in 2018.
And, Eric Kaman, who became principal at Furry Elementary this school year, is Perkins Local Schools’ newest principal. He previously was the Dean of Students for Port Clinton City Schools, and taught 3rd and 4th grades at Aurora Academy in Toledo, 1st grade at Margaretta, and 2nd grade at Port Clinton.
Mr. Kaman earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toledo and his master’s degree from BGSU. He, too, is a PHS graduate – Class of 2001.