Damen Kugel is starting his first year as the new assistant principal.
Damen Kugel is entering his first year as the new assistant principal at Hastings High School. He looks to make an immediate impact on the school.
“I want to make an impact through positive student relationships, being able to solve problems, and to get kids back on track,” Kugel said.
Kugel was a middle school science teacher for 6 years at Tri-County Public Schools. Then he became the K-12 principal of Bruning-Davenport. He was born and raised in Beatrice where he graduated high school in 2005. He has had a long-standing interest in education.
“I always wanted to be a teacher. I got into teaching and the more I learned, the more I wanted to make a bigger impact. And I feel like when I got my first master’s degree in curriculum that helped me grow. When I started to build curriculum and learn about rewriting curriculum it made my desire to be an administrator. Clever, I think I always wanted to have that growth opportunity. And so that opportunity presented itself and I went through Doane and got the degree and then I got another degree through Wayne State. So I’m actually legal to be a superintendent,” Kugel said.
Kugel had many reasons for moving, such as more opportunities for him and his family in a bigger town. One main reason for choosing Hastings was his wife’s long-standing job at ESU here in town.
“The amount of things to do Davenport] was extremely limited and so for our social life or our well-being for our growth, it was wise to look for a bigger community. And so when the job here came open, there was just a lot of positive things about it as I researched that I was interested in,” Kugel said.
Kugel enjoys a few activities outside of school such as fishing which he did on a frequent basis in Davenport.
“The Huskers are always big for me regardless of what season it is. A lot of the hobbies are here in town. Just getting out and meeting people is helping me to expand personally because I don’t really have a clear-cut hobby. My family’s kind of my hobby,” Kugel said.
Damen Kugel is married to his wife LaRaesha with two sons and a dog. He has a 3rd grader named Dawson, a kindergartener named Camden, and a six-year-old Cavalier Shitzu named Walter.
“I want to make an impact through positive student relationships and being able to solve problems and to get kids back on track,” Kugel said.
