Last year, a job opening for a new assistant principal became available to at Maize. English teacher Kevin Frye applied for the job and was promoted at the end of last school year.

Kevin Frye graduated from Friends University in December 1998. In the spring of 1999, he got a job as a long term substitute at Wichita Southeast High School, then got his first contract at Maize High School. Frye has been teaching English at Maize High School for 18 years.

Frye said when Maize principal, Chris Botts, first became the principal he allowed each of the teachers to come in and have a one on one with him. During Frye and Botts’s one on one, Botts asked Frye if he had ever thought about being a principal.

“It was just something that wasn’t on my radar; I’ve never considered it before,” Frye said.

After watching Botts for about five years, Frye began to think differently about the position.

“I saw this position in a new light,” Frye said. “That it could cause energy, cause opportunity, and create an entirely uplifting atmosphere.”

Frye says that his biggest fear about the position is that he will not be able to impact students the same way he did as a teacher. He still wants to have close relationships with students while they are in high school and after they graduate.

Frye sees this new position being a new beginning for him and his family. He said that he will miss teaching and being able to see the students grow everyday, but now he will be able to see growth sporadically.

“I’m going to miss that day-to-day intense, unique environment with a group of students,” Frye said. “And seeing them grow and knowing I am making an impact.”