Wethersfield’s new elementary principal didn’t have to be shown around the building when he began his new job on Monday, July 3. Kyle Dennison was once a student in these classrooms, roamed the halls, played in the gym, and remembers elementary teachers like Carol Cook, Chris Reeves and Cathy Dana, among others.
Dennison was hired last spring to replace Gus Elliott after serving a year as junior-senior high school principal at Princeville. A 2012 graduate of Wethersfield High School, Dennison’s journey back to his alma mater began in Sue VanDeVelde’s second grade classroom.
“My dad worked for BOMAG and was transferred to New York where I was in kindergarten and first grade, then we moved back to Kewanee,” Dennison said sitting behind the same desk where his grade school principals, Gene Hulick and Mike Henley, once sat.
In high school, Dennison was active in athletics, school activities and an honor roll student. An early indication that he was thinking about becoming a teacher was applying for and receiving the Marilyn and Milt Hamilton Memorial Teachers Scholarship at graduation.
He then went to St. Ambrose University, in Davenport, Iowa, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education in 2015 after student teaching in Geneseo.
“At first I was certified to teach social studies but that didn’t feel right,” said Dennison.
That’s when he went back to his love for mathematics, born in the classroom of eighth grade math teacher Tammy Jackson.
“I liked math, loved to work with numbers, and love to see that ‘Ah Ha!’ moment when a student gets how they work.”
His first job was with the Kewanee School District as Response Intervention Specialist for a short time, then as a sixth-grade teacher at Central School. That’s where he met another sixth-grade teacher, Lexi Marselle, in 2017.
Both had a love of teaching which blossomed into marriage in 2021. Lexi, who has two grandfathers both well known in Kewanee — Ted Canellos and Frank Marselle — is now a fourth grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Princeton.
After leaving Central, Kyle taught eighth grade math at Logan Junior High Schooling Princeton before taking the assistant principal’s job at Princeville last year.
Kyle, Lexi, and their adopted three-year-old Poochon dog, “Hazel,” live on Edwards Street and says he can be found at the movie theater, local sporting events, or walking around the fitness trail on campus.
What pointed Dennison back in the direction of Goose Island? Simply said, once a Flying Goose, always a Flying Goose. Dennison said he has always planned to give back to the school that gave him so much. He said he has benefited from different experiences at five different school districts and, when he heard the Wethersfield elementary principalship was open, felt he was ready to “come back home,” now that he has the tools and is better able to give staff and students the benefit of what he has learned.
“I’m glad to be back,” Dennison said.
Looking forward, his top priorities include maintaining a safe and secure environment for teachers and students and to continue to promote what he calls “Geese Pride” in learning, competing and being the best they can be.
In a letter to WES staff, students and families Dennison wrote, “I look forward to learning and working with you while building new relationships with staff, students, families and community members. My goal as your principal is to guide and support staff to ensure that our students reach their highest level of potential in a safe and nurturing environment. I strongly believe in developing the whole child focusing on their overall academic, social and emotional growth.”
Students return to classes in District 230 on Wednesday, Aug. 16. Dennison will be serving popsicles at a “Meet the Principal” event for students and their families at the elementary school from 5 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, prior to “Meet the Titans” night at Wethersfield Memorial Stadium.
