New assistant superintendent coming to Pasco’s ESD 123

When Teri Kessie first met with the Educational Service District 123’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, she wanted the job.

Now the former Chiawana High School principal will have it.

The district’s board of directors picked Teri Kessie to replace JoAnn Henderson beginning in July.

The service district is one of nine in the state and offers resources and programs to 20 school districts from Prosser to Asotin, and as far north as Othello.

“Board members and members of the interview committee were impressed with Teri Kessie’s experience at all levels of the K-12 system: teaching, administration, central office and at the ESD,” said Molly Curtiss, the service district’s communication and graphics coordinator.

Kessie was working in the Pasco School District when the service district created the position in 2004.

At the time, the position was aimed at helping teachers, administrators and other education professionals improve.

“One of our key strategic priorities focuses on responding to the needs of our school systems by hosting the types of conferences, workshops and trainings they seek,” said Curtiss.

At the time the first assistant superintendent, Judy Reault, worked for the district, she was able to draw in 400 people at a time to participate in professional learning conferences.

Kessie saw the district attracting prominent figures in education for workshops and decided she wanted the chance to fill the position.

After six years as Chiawana’s principal, Kessie became the district’s director of student and school success. She led efforts to prepare schools to implement the Common Core curriculum, worked with failing schools and led efforts to help districts evaluate principals and teachers.

“I feel like the ESD opens the door to have the widest range of impact,” she said.

While the service district provides supports to the larger school districts, much of its efforts go into providing services to the smaller districts, she said.

“I am excited about the opportunity to lead the ESD teaching and learning department as we work together to postively impact learning for the 73,000 students we serve in this region,” Kessie said.

This story was originally published December 25, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "New assistant superintendent coming to Pasco’s ESD 123."