Justin Dunnaway will be the Perry-Lecompton High School principal when the new fall term starts.
by Clarke Davis
Justin Dunnaway, 35, always planned to return home to Perry and his alma mater after he picked education as his major. After nine years teaching English in the high school and a couple of years of administrative experience, he is now set to be the next principal at Perry-Lecompton High School.
“It was always my intent to be here after I chose education as my major,” he said.
After the Perry native graduated in 2006, he headed for Emporia State University and completed a bachelor’s degree by 2011 and later completed his master’s.
He spent one year teaching at Marais de Cygnes USD 456 before landing a teaching position at his former high school.
The year prior to the current one he spent at Oskaloosa as an assistant principal. He started the current year back at Perry-Lecompton as the assistant 5-12 principal and the transportation director.
He did some coaching in the middle and high school over the years. As a Kaw in high school, Justin played basketball and baseball. He was a walk-on for baseball at Emporia State.
The school board offered him a contract to be the high school principal following the retirement of the current principal, Michael Maloun.
Needless to say, Dunnaway sings the praises of the 3A school.
“It provides a nice opportunity to be involved and try a number of activities, sports, and clubs,” he said. “The school offers nearly as much as a big school, yet is small enough to provide more of an opportunity to participate.”
“There are so many opportunities here for a student to find their niche,” he said.
Dunnaway said he always knew that he wanted to work in a field that allowed him to give back to the Perry-Lecompton community.
While the new principal said there was no one individual who inspired him or set him on his path, “I did have many fantastic teachers in my time in the USD 343 school system. While I appreciate everything that each of my teachers taught me through the years, several stand out thinking back.”
“To name a few of these teachers, Carrie Volle, Stephanie Culver, Kelly Haggard, Mark Armstrong, Maribel Johnson, Rita Lesser, and Dennis Vigna each influenced me in different ways,” he said. “On this note, I was lucky enough to call several of these teachers, colleagues and friends when I returned to PLHS as a staff member in 2012.”
Justin and his wife, Chelsey, reside north of Perry with their five daughters, Jaceigh, 11, Lyndee, 8, Kenzie, 4, and twins, Brooke and Mylie, 2. Chelsey is a financial analyst for Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Justin is the son of Terry Dunnaway, Perry, and the late Jerry Dunnaway.