Mark Whitener

Robert Young

Frederick Van Ranken

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The search for Wellington’s next Superintendent is coming to a conclusion.

Last week, the Wellington school board concluded the interviewing process and will choose between three candidates very soon.

The USD 353 Central Office sent out an e-mail stating there will be a special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. No specifics of why the meeting was called. Sumner Newscow is working on confirmation to what that meeting will be about and if a Superintendent will be named then.

The three candidates are:

•Mr. Frederick Van Ranken, a principal at Smoky Valley High School for five years;

•Robert Young, a superintendent and curriculum director at Ellis School District;

•Mark Whitener, a Superintendent and principal at Oxford High School.

The following are brief biographies of the three candidates:

Frederick Van Ranken

Van Ranken was the first of three candidate interviews held on Feb. 17. He is currently serving as the Director of Student Learning in U.S.D. 400 Smoky Valley Public Schools and is in his ninth year at the position. He previously served as principal at Smoky Valley for five years and principal at St. John Junior/Senior High School for two years.

Robert Young

Young was the second of three candidate interviews held on Feb. 22.  Young is in his fifth year in that position. He is an Adjunct Professor at Fort Hays State University. He perviously served as the director of curriculum and Superintendent at USD 241 in Wallace County for three years.

Mark Whitener

Whitener was the third of three candidate interviews held on Feb. 24. Whitener is in his fifth year in that position. Previously, Whitener served as the middle school principal at USD 470 in Arkansas City for two years, and the principal at IXL Elementary in Ark City for three years.

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