Principal brings plenty of enthusiasm to new position

Scott Striegel had his eye on Nashua-Plainfield almost as soon as he heard the news that Erik Smith was resigning his principal position last spring.“There are so many good things going on here, I would have been crazy not to consider it,” said Striegel, who is the new 7-12 principal at Nashua-Plainfield. “And then when I came for the interview and met the people, I’m telling you I knew this was a place I wanted to be.”And it’s where he’s at now, settling in and waiting for that first day of school on Tuesday.“We’ve got a great administrative team, we’ve got some really outstanding teachers and you look at what our students do in the classroom, in athletics and in the music rooms and it’s hard not be enthusiastic.”The fact that his family found a house — Smith’s old one, to be exact — right away and his wife landed an education job, too, and life is good right now for the Striegel family.Darla Striegel will serve as an elementary librarian in the Cedar Falls school district, their oldest son Caleb is a freshman at Simpson and their youngest son, Tanner, will be a sophomore at Nashua-Plainfield.In other words, it’s been a busy summer for the Striegel clan.But the bottom line is Nashua-Plainfield’s newest principal can’t wait for Tuesday.“I’ve been in education for a while,” he said, “and I get as excited for the first day of school now as much as I did way back when I started teaching.”Striegel spent the past three years as the 6-12 principal at CAL, where he also served as curriculum director, activities director, drivers’ education instructor and for two years, the Cadets’ football coach.“I’m ready to focus on being a principal and building positive relationships with our staff and our kids,” he said.Striegel is a graduate of Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School, attended Kirkwood Community College and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa.After coaching football at Simpson and Ellsworth Community College and several high schools, he took his first full-time teaching job in 1994 at BGM in Brooklyn.He moved to Northeast High School in Goose Lake the following year and taught physical and health education, led the school’s drivers’ education program and coached football until 2002.From there, he moved to Davenport Central for two years before moving into school administration in Illinois.Now, though, he’s excited to have found a home — both literally and figuratively — in Nashua.“This is one of the most welcoming places I’ve ever been,” he said. “I can’t wait to jump in and do my part here at Nashua-Plainfield.”