Groton High School welcomes new principal

With September just a little less than a month away and the exact plan for the opening of schools not completely “set in concrete” until a final word is heard from the governor’s office, Groton Central School is as ready as it can be to move forward with its opening on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Regardless of how and what that ends up looking like, the Groton Jr./Sr. High School has needed a principal to lead that building alongside associate principal Jake Roe since this past January.

Dustin Bush, who was most recently a teacher and administrative intern for the Cortland Enlarged City School District, was hired in May and formally stepped into his new role as GHS principal on July 1.

Born and raised in East Homer, Bush describes himself as “a local product” and is thrilled about the opportunity to remain local and be a part of Groton.

“When I saw that Groton had this opening, I felt it was an exciting opportunity,” Bush said. “Growing up in Homer, I was very familiar with the area, and I jumped at the chance to give back to the area I grew up in.”

Bush believes that “Groton offers educational opportunities to its students that not many other schools offer,” such as the STEAM Lab, and he wanted to be a part of that.

A 2004 Homer alum, Bush was active in student council, student government, National Honor Society and athletics during his high school years.

Bush earned his B.A. in speech communication with prelaw and English minors at SUNY Potsdam in 2008. His interest was split between education and law at that point, so after college, he began working for the Cortland Standard newspaper in advertising sales.

In addition, Bush worked part time at the Cortland YWCA for its after-school and summer camp programs as well as for the SUNY Cortland library. It was then that Bush began to realize that his passion truly was for education.

“I wanted to help influence children and students to pursue education, help them resolve conflicts and make better decisions,” Bush said.

Bush then applied for an accelerated teaching degree at SUNY Cortland, acquiring 64 credits in the span of about 24 to 30 months, which earned him a master’s in teaching in adolescence education in 2012. At the same time, Bush continued working at the library and the YWCA.

Bush began teaching at Cortland High School in 2014, where he taught all levels of English courses and coached varsity football, junior varsity lacrosse and varsity bowling. All of which contributed to being a well-rounded educator, but he also learned some valuable lessons in the two years prior.

From 2012 to 2014, Bush taught seventh and eighth grade English in the inner city at Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, where he also coached wrestling.

“The demographics at SAS were over 95% Black and Latino,” Bush said. “But I learned there that relationships are the conduit through which great teaching can happen. You can be great at teaching, but you need relationships to get students to ‘buy what you’re selling,’ which is education.”

Bush expounded further.

“Those kids had already experienced a lot in life and were very leery of adults,” he said. “They needed to know I had their best interests at heart first. I was always honest with them about my culture, yet I assured them that that didn’t mean we couldn’t blend our cultures within our shared place of learning. That meant a lot to them.”

In 2017, Bush began earning his Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in school building and school district leadership from SUNY Cortland while at Cortland HS, which was awarded to him this past May.

“I was offered the position at Groton, attended my last class and completed my degree all on the same day,” Bush said.

As of July 1, Bush got right to work at GHS, helping to build an instructional model for this fall, working to provide in-depth professional development for the faculty and developing comprehensive shared curricular vision for the building.

“I’ve done lots of work with the leadership team and department chairs to develop a vision for the foreseeable future,” Bush said. “Everyone now knows where we’re headed. We’re prepping teachers for time and resources to prepare for the fall, whether it’s hybrid or distance learning, and putting teachers in a positive space to meet the needs of students.”

When asked what drew him to Groton the most, Bush cited Groton’s history.

“Groton has a reputation for being a hard-working community where traditions are important and where there is a lot of pride in people and the community,” he said. “I am excited to continue to build opportunities for the students and perpetuate Groton’s traditions.”

In his “spare time,” Bush follows sports, especially the Buffalo Bills, Syracuse basketball or anything “sports and Syracuse,” and has an avid interest in classic cars. He is particularly proud of his 1946 Jeep Willys that he has been working on for the past five years. He said he just might be seen driving it around town, so keep a lookout.

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief:

Library happenings

The monthly meeting of the Groton Public Library’s Board of Trustees will be on Zoom at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13. All meetings are open to the public. Those wishing to attend, please request the link from director@grotonpubliclibrary.org.

Another way the Groton Public Library remains accessible and serves the community is its “Virtual Story Time” every Friday at 11 a.m. on Facebook and at 11:30 a.m. on Instagram.

The story on Aug. 7 is “Lighthouses,” “Elephants” on Aug 14, “Tell a Joke Day” on Aug. 21 and “Ready to go to School?” on Aug. 28. Videos remain up for at least a week so you can still watch at your leisure.

GPL’s monthly book club has gone virtual and will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20. This month’s read is “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins.

Contact the library via director@grotonpubliclibrary.org for the Zoom link.

Free healthy food

The Groton Public Library continues to partner with Friendship Donation Network (FDN) to offer free, healthy food on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at the C.R. Pavilion on Main Street. Food is bagged and ready to go — just drive or walk up.

New this summer is an FDN Neighborhood Food Hub that is in blue coolers at the front of the GPL by the door. Farmers and gardeners drop off their extra produce, and the community can take what they need. This is donated, fresh produce for free, all summer long.

Free park passes

GPL also has the Empire Passes to borrow so you can visit New York state parks for free this summer. They have five passes available. Reserve yours at grotonpubliclibrary.net or call 607-898-5055.