About Me

About Me: Terry Zessin

I am the oldest of 4 children, with 2 sisters and a brother. Both of my parents now live in Omaha, but my youth was somewhat of a journey.  I was born on Wright-Patterson Air Force base, in Dayton, Ohio. At the time, my dad was enlisted in the Air Force, and we stayed there until I was three. My parents were both from Northeast Nebraska, so we moved back to Norfolk, where I began kindergarten.  My dad took a job with IBP in West Point as a maintenance man, so we then moved to a place in the country by Bancroft. I attended country school, District 32, about 3 miles south of Bancroft. There were anywhere from 15-20 kids in our whole K-6 school at any one time. I am proud to say I was ranked 2nd in my class; even if it was out of 2 students! I didn’t realize it then, but I was fortunate to have gone to that small, close knit school

As I reached 7th grade, our family moved to my dad’s hometown of Oakland. Having 23 other students in my class, along with changing teachers every period, was quite a shock to me, although I had a great science teacher in Miss. Hickman now Mrs. Heise. I was pretty shy, so making friends wasn’t easy. I was fortunate for the opportunity to play Jr. High sports; that is where I found my niche. I loved to play football in a town that coveted Friday night lights. I enjoyed playing all sports and was fortunate to make it to state in football, wrestling and track my senior year.  I even loved playing sports on the Nintendo. Super Tecmo Bowl made for many interesting evenings with my friends. If I wasn’t going to school or playing sports I also loved to hunt and spend Novembers either hunting pheasants or deer. 

Summers and school breaks were always spent working. While in elementary, I spent many summers walking beans or detasseling. I also worked in a body shop in my backyard and even got to refurbish my ‘68 Chevy pickup.  In high school and college, I worked for Vern’s Plumbing and Heating. There, my uncles taught me valuable skills that I still use today. My money was spent on gas, time with friends, entry into sporting events, and school clothes. 

After graduating at Oakland-Craig, I went to the University of Nebraska at Kearney to be a Loper. I was a first generation college student from both sides of my family, and was undecided on a major.  I was on the football team the first year, and redshirted like most freshmen. I was not a strong high school student, but did surprisingly well in my college classes. I was able to travel with the team, as the depth chart was short at running back, due to injuries.  My second year, I left the football team and decided to work my way through college. Boy, did I miss football! I went home for the summer of ‘96. Working on a feedlot was a new experience, but it was with friends that I would later go to UNL with. My journey at the University of Nebraska Lincoln was short lived.  A semester at the big U was enough for me, as I longed to play football.

I contacted my high school football coach, Coach Benne, and told him I was interested in playing football again. He contacted area colleges and was able to secure me a scholarship for second semester at Peru State. I spent the next 3 ½ years at Peru. I will say that Peru is not for everyone, but it was for me. I excelled there, small class sizes, caring professors, and a community that loved their Bobcat football. Being a member of the student senate helped instill my love for social sciences, which would become my major. I secured a starting spot at fullback that next fall. During my time there, hard work proved to be my best talent. I earned lifter of the year, offensive player of the year and a spot as one of the captains my senior year.  

My time at Peru was more valuable than anyone would know, as I met my wife Heather there. A beautiful and smart volleyball player. We would marry and move to Lincoln, while I taught and coached at Tri County Schools.  During that time, Heather was an Accountant for the Department of Labor. We had two children while living in the Lincoln area; Trey, and Lauryn. LIfe was definitely busy, as I taught, coached and earned Master's degrees from both Doane College and the University of Nebraska - Kearney. I delivered the Journal Star newspaper to nearly 200 customers everyday to help pay for those degrees.

Commuting 45 minutes each way to school made teaching, coaching and raising a family challenging. We made the move to Beatrice in 2005.  Our home was much closer to Tri County Schools, but Heather then took over the commute to Lincoln. We had our son Reagan while in Beatrice, and were very lucky to have Grandma Schroeder nearby to help take care of the kids.

With encouragement from some of my mentors, I decided that I would apply for principal positions throughout the state. I had earned a number of interview spots at the time, but my first was at Wood River.  Heather and I were impressed with the community, staff and schools that we made the tough decision to leave the comfort of eastern Nebraska, where our families and great jobs were. I loved teaching Social Studies at Tri County. Making creative lessons and challenging students proved to be something I would miss. I also loved coaching and pushing athletes to be better than they thought possible. I had an amazing experience there and the people were some of the best; I still keep in contact with them yet today. 

Currently, I am entering my 12th year as Wood River Rural Middle/High School Principal.  It has been the fastest 11 years of my life. To be honest, I was naive about how busy the principal position could be. There are so many facets to it, that you’ll never have two days alike!  I can honestly say that I love what I do, as I see it more as a mission than a job. I never have a problem getting up and going to school. I am most proud of our staff and the things that we have accomplished together. They continue to strive to be creative, innovative and challenging for our students.  There have been many challenges in my time here at Wood River, but I would not change it for anything. 

 Our daughter Brielle was born after moving to Wood River 10 years ago...and she has kept us on our toes ever since!  She has been a Type I Diabetic for nearly 5 years - the support that we have received for her, and after my hip injury was truly inspiring.  We love our neighbors and community...you won’t find a better place to raise a family!

I am excited for this school year, in particular. Our oldest son Trey, is a senior and is looking to go to college somewhere in the state.  Lauryn is a sophomore, and keeps busy with many school activities. Reagan is a 7th grader, and loves YouTube learning!  Brielle is our 4th grade gymnast. Heather is the Elementary School secretary and needless to say, she stays plenty busy.  The boys and I will try our hands at deer hunting this fall, as it has been years since I sat out on a cold November morning. 

I am equally excited for our schools, as we have many great people and programs in place to inspire our students for success. I am continually motivated to learn and do the best that I can for our school community.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

"I want to be a jet fighter pilot"  That was what I wanted to be when I grew up especially after I watched the movie Top Gun.  It really made sense; I was born at Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio and my stunning resemblance to Tom Cruise.  The only thing holding me back was my fear of heights.  Oh well.

What do you want to be when you grow up?  The infamous question that many people ask throughout their life.  According to Forbes Magazine, the average worker today will change jobs every 4.5 years. The Washington Post reports younger workers are job hopping every 3 years.  Why?  Workers are more likely to be looking for stability, while younger workers are looking for happiness. You would think that we would get it right in college, but close to 50%-80% of college students change their majors. So then, what can high schools and parents do to prepare students to enter college and the workforce in the area that they have strong interest in.  It is expensive to change majors in college and even more stressful to change jobs.  The key to having a successful college and workforce transition is early career exploration.  Through interest surveys, career field trips/interviews, job shadows, part-time/summer jobs, and internships, young people can begin to formulate what they want to do when they grow up.

I never dreamed of being a school principal.  I had many career exploration opportunities while growing up in Oakland,a town in northeast Nebraska.  Most of those experiences came from the part-time and summer jobs that I held.  I remember, as young as 10, walking beans for weeds, if anyone remembers that; before Round-Up resistant beans.  I also bean-buggied, a more advanced form of walking beans where a 3 to 5 people rode on a homemade contraption on the front of a tractor with umbrellas and Round-Up spray guns. While in junior high, I detasseled corn.  During my high school career, I worked many summers for my uncle Vern at his plumbing business.  I learned many valuable skills, that I still use regularly today.  Sanding, and prepping vehicles for paint and all the other skills that go with rebuilding cars, I gained from working at the bodyshop in my backyard.  Bussing tables at the Captain's Table, taking phone order calls at Cabelas, and mowing lawns are a few things I did when I lived in Kearney while attending college. I was even a cashier at the Hinky Dinky grocery store in Auburn, Nebraska.  One summer I held a line position for the manufacturer Quebecor, a printing company in Lincoln, where I learned how magazines were printed and distributed.  While at Peru State College, I worked as a youth counselor at a detention center in Tarkio, Missouri. Wow, my eyes were opened to many different challenges there!

I am grateful for the many work experiences that have provided me skills and aided me in my career exploration.  As I went through college I found that I really loved teaching and knew the impact that teachers make on student lives.  

Currently, Wood River High School provides the following opportunities for students to explore different careers/colleges:  Careers Class for 8th Grade, Personal Leadership Class for Seniors ,College Recruiter visits, Numerous career field trips, Job Shadows, College Visits, College Fair, College Day(Sign up for College), Habitudes - Helps Make Career Ready Students, Getting To Know Series: Getting to Know Your Skills Getting the Life You Want: Getting To Know What An Employer Wants; How to do a successful Interview, Nebraska Career Inventory System, STEM Career in Two Years, What to Give to the person doing a Recommendation, What does a good recommendation look like, EducationQuest, ScholarshipQuest, Activities Resume,Essay Writing, Financial Aide Night in January(FAFSA), Writing Resumes and Cover Letters, Several Occupational Handbooks- Counseling office is the resource for many scholarships, answering questions, making phone calls, and anything related to career/college exploration.  Do not hesitate to call the school, our goal is to make our students as successful as possible after graduation.

Guo, Jeff. "Millennials Aren’t Changing Jobs as Much. That’s a Big Problem for the Economy." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.

Meister, Jeanne. "Job Hopping Is the 'New Normal' for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.