Josh Regan, 39, is the new principal of St. Mary’s Catholic School.

A  Fort Scottian, Regan comes with 11 years in education as a teacher, this will be his first administration job.

He received his  BSEd from the University of Kansas,  and Masters in Educational Leadership from Pittsburg State University

Regan starts July 1 in the new position.

“St. Mary’s already has a great reputation as an excellent school with an awesome staff,” Regan said.  “Krista Gorman has done an incredible job as principal.  My first priority is to learn as much as possible from her, and she has been great about offering to teach me.  I also want to learn from the staff and faculty in terms of what works and what I can do to help them.  Beyond that, my priority is to form disciples of Jesus Christ.  There are many levels to that mission, especially in an educational setting.  I plan to model and practice my faith both in front of and with the kids, and again this is something that I know Krista has done for a long time as well. I am incredibly excited especially about that part of the job.”

“I decided to become an educator after my father, David Regan, passed away fifteen years ago,” he said. ” In the days surrounding his accident, hospitalization, death, and funeral my brothers and I were flooded with stories from students and athletes that he had, about how he had inspired them in countless ways.  I started to realize how powerful that was, and I wanted to have the same impact on young people.  In all honesty, I suppose I can also admit that deep down, I wanted to make my Dad proud- as any son does. So at that point, I went back to school and started this journey in education.  I am so glad that I did.  There is no better job in the world.”

“Besides my father- Ken Klassen and Ron Klassen, Chad McKinnis and Bob Campbell.”

“Relationships that are formed with the young people that I teach and coach,” Regan said.  “What we teach in the classroom as far as content is important and certainly has its place, but it’s really secondary to being a positive force in a young person’s life. That is what I live for.  The greatest teachers in my life showed me how to be a man as much as they taught me chemistry or Latin.  I can only pray and hope that the things I do every day push my students and athletes in a positive direction, and pray for forgiveness for those moments when I have fallen short.”