COASTAL OBSERVER

For the second time in three years, the top administrators in the Georgetown County School District both work at the same Waccamaw Neck school.

Waccamaw Intermediate School’s Travis Klatka was named the principal of the year and Denetria Middleton was named the assistant principal of the year.

“Even to be nominated was one thing and then to hear my name called, I was honored and surprised. The three other candidates are just as deserving as me,” Klatka said. “I feel like I put a lot of hard work in. It’s nice to be recognized but it’s not why I do it.”

“I just felt humbled and grateful just for the opportunity to serve the Waccamaw community,” Middleton said. “I was just honored, I guess.”

Principal Ashley Cameron and assistant principal Robert DelBagno of Waccamaw Elementary School were honored for the 2021-22 school year.

Middleton started teaching in 2012. While working at Andrews Elementary School, she saw administration as a way to “impact more students on a bigger level.”

“I thought that I could make more of an impact with kids and students and teachers and parents,” Middleton said. “I just wanted to have more of an impact.”

Klatka was not thinking about becoming an administrator when he took a job teaching math at Georgetown Middle School in 2009.

Rosemary Gray, the school’s principal at that time, encouraged him to consider that path. 

“She was an amazing principal,” Klatka said.

While Klatka was working toward being an administrator, Gray gave him opportunities to get experience, like filling in for an assistant principal who was absent.

Klatka then became an assistant principal at Waccamaw Middle School under the guidance of principal Jamie Curry. 

“She was just amazing,” Klatka said. “She inspired me to take that next step because of everything she did for that school and she does for kids and her staff.”

Klatka has been principal at Waccamaw Intermediate since February 2020. Curry retired from administration and now teaches sixth-grade social studies at the school.

With fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, Waccamaw Intermediate is the only school of its kind in the district.

“I think we have the best of both worlds,” Middleton said. “We know them already, we have that rapport with them. We have a chance to kind of groom them and get them ready for middle school but not actually kick them out the door.”

Klatka said it’s rewarding to watch the kids mature from elementary school students to middle schoolers.

“It’s great. It’s a fun age group,” he added. “I think it’s the perfect set of grades that we’ve got here. It’s a lot of fun.”

Middleton and Klatka agree that technology is the biggest change since they started their teaching careers.

Although technology was invaluable to keep kids learning during the global pandemic, Klatka has reservations.

“It’s great to use it, but how do we back off from it a little bit so we’re not using it too much,” he said.

Middleton said cellphones can be used as educational tools, but they can also be used in a bad way, especially with things like social media, outside of school.

Klatka said the fourth- and fifth-graders who have cellphones are mostly compliant and will keep them in their backpacks. 

However, the sixth-graders like to “test the waters” even though they know they shouldn’t have the devices out in class, he added.