High marks at Mullan High

Students at Mullan Jr./Sr. High School recently wrapped up their fall semester, but what makes this particular semester special is what the students accomplished during those 18 weeks.

The school, which houses grades 7-12, didn’t have a single student fail a single class this past semester and according to MHS principal Don Kotschevar, it hasn’t happened in a very long time.

“It’s something that hasn’t happened in at least the last 30 years,” Kotschevar (who has been with Mullan School District during those three decades) said.

In his time as principal, Kotschevar has striven for excellence with every child, but he doesn’t take any of the credit.

He attributes the success to the students for their hard work, as well as his staff and the parents of the students.

“We have great students, great parents, and great teachers,” Kotschevar said. “Due to our size we are able to give students better individualized instruction and we can communicate with parents when students are struggling.”

One of the things that Kotschevar is very particular on is the idea that students need to turn in all of their work, even if isn’t correct, to avoid having missing assignments, which are automatic zeros in the grade book.

“One way or another, we make sure that all students turn in all of their assignments which drastically improves classroom scores,” Kotschevar stated.

Principal Kotschevar also has implemented a program that has become his personal favorite, but not terribly popular with the students.

It’s called ‘Lunchtime with Mr. Kotschevar.’

“We use the lunchtime (normally open campus) to provide additional study time for students with missing work or poor performance,” Kotschevar said. “If that is not enough, we also have an after school study table to helps encourage students and requires students to stay an hour after school to complete their work.”

Kotschevar also praised Sherry Leitz and Paul Elston who are Kotschevar’s right hand administrators when he is unable to be at the building (which is high praise when you figure that the principal, mayor, and local grocer are all the same guy).

Kotschevar reiterated that this couldn’t be accomplished without the school and its students getting the parental support at home that they need when he stated that, “our parents are very supportive of the school’s efforts and making certain that their children succeed.”