Transcript
Joining us now on KWBG, get a chance to talk to a new Madrid middle school principal and athletics director, Ross Bauer joining us as we knew and had talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but that Paul would be leaving and heading over to Ballard to be their athletic director. And so now we get an opportunity, I should say, to talk to Ross Bauer. And first off Ross, congratulations and welcome to Boone County. Good morning. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Well, let's talk. We always ask our candidates and somebody that decides to come in and find the job. How did you find the job? So Ross, tell me how did the kind of the word spread and you find out about Madrid? I had a couple mentors who are in the athletic directing field and a few of them had mentioned that they knew that Paul Evans was leaving Madrid and kind of put me in this direction of looking towards Madrid and I applied. I got a conversation, I got a phone call a day or so later and we started the interview process and I was offered a job last week. So very fast moving process, but I think it's going to be a great opportunity. Well, let's talk about obviously the athletics part because that's the part that I deal with quite a bit. And so I've always said this when it comes to candidates. I think I remember telling Paul this as well when he first took over as activities director, but they've got such great participation. Ross, when it comes to their kids and sports, I mean it's not a huge school, but everybody does something. That's got to be attractive to coming in, doesn't it? Absolutely. And that's one of the biggest reasons why I was interested in this position and why I was so excited to accept it when they offered is that when you look at Madrid, it's a very tight-knit community. They're very prideful in what they do. They have a tremendous booster club, very supportive throughout. Their facilities are great. So yeah, those are all huge reasons why I was attracted to come to Madrid for sure. All right, so I know that candidates always have something in the back of their mind. They've got a question or two that they are probably wondering about when it comes to Madrid. The questions that you had, Ross, pretty much all answered after your interview process? Oh, for sure. Yeah, it was a great, it was actually a four-hour interview process. They really put me through my paces, but I met with several different groups, some school board members, some parents, some other people throughout the community, and they did a great job. They showed me the facilities. They showed me the grounds. They gave me a great idea of what to expect coming in. And one of the biggest things I noticed was the level of support. You know, I'm moving into this position for the first time from being a teacher, and there's going to be a lot of unknowns for me. And right away, I noticed how much support that Madrid is willing to give, and that's just an incredible feeling coming into a new role. I know there's always things that could be improved or, you know, I'd like to have this done or this done. I was telling Ross, though, off air, I said, I got to tell you, you've got a lot of stuff kind of going in your favor right now. Obviously, the track is fairly new when we look at that. Softball complex has gotten a nice overall lately. Kind of the same with the baseball, basketball, volleyball. That can always use a little bit help, but Ross, you're kind of walking into a pretty nice situation when it comes to that. I don't know if I got a ton of questions on the facilities. Were you impressed looking at what you saw? Oh, definitely. Absolutely. Yeah. When I got a tour of the grounds, it's super cool to have all the facilities right there, baseball, softball, football, all in one area. And as you mentioned, yeah, there's such great facilities already that, yeah, we can always make minor improvements here and there, and we can, you know, work with what makes sense for our community. But yeah, I was really impressed from day one about the quality of what they have already. What about coaches? I don't know if you've had a chance yet. I know, obviously, this has all been kind of a quick process, but have you had a chance to visit with most of the coaches? So far? I would say yes. A lot of them weren't in the interview process. What I noticed is that many of them are a veteran group, which is great. Those are great anchors for our athletics and for our students. But they seem to be a really good group. You know, every single person is willing to work with each other. They're student focused, and they want to be successful, which is an amazing opportunity and a great group to start working with. For our interview, Ross, I guess I got a circle back to that a little bit. That's a lot of time, my friend. Was there, did they at least let you break for lunch or something around there? No, it was actually, I was just, I was kind of in the holding room between, so it was like three different committees, and I would stay in a classroom for like 10 minutes in between, and it was a long time to be in my suit and tie, for sure, but a very thorough process nonetheless. I got to always ask this because I always get kind of interested when it comes to the questions that you get asked, Ross, can you think back? What was the, any questions that I don't want to say caught you off guard or through your curve ball, but were there any questions that you kind of went, ah, that's not bad. I don't know if I've ever been asked that before. You know, it's interesting because I wouldn't say any of the questions threw me off guard. I did notice a theme, you know, Madrid is a smaller town, and they're very community focused, and I know that there's a theme running through all the questions of how will you help focus your attention to student needs? How will you help bridge the gap between multiple four athletes? How will you bridge the gap between fine arts and also activities and athletics? So those are themes that I noticed, and that's really cool to see that consistency throughout, because clearly that's what they wanted to emphasize in this person that they got. It was interesting that you brought up the veteran coaches because you're right, they do have some younger coaches, but the younger coaches have actually been there for quite a few years. That's got to be kind of exciting to walk into as well, Ross, where you don't feel like, oh boy, I'm going to have to lead a bunch of coaches and try to figure out where they need to go. Most of the coaches kind of know that they're going to be able to help you out quite a bit, I believe. No, it's definitely a partnership. It always is, right? I've always said that an athletic director is like a coach of the coaches, right? And having an experience group of coaches is amazing because they can hit the ground running, they know their systems, they know how their summer programs go, they know what their in-season stuff looks like, and I can be there to help enhance whatever is needed, right? And they can lead on me, I can lead on them. So yeah, I think it's a great opportunity all around. Yeah, it should be a lot of fun. Ross, thank you so much for some time again. Congratulations, middle school principal, and obviously the activities director as well. I will actually probably see you in August for some volleyball, and we'll see if, well, I'm sure you'll set me up at a decent spot. How about that? Well, we'll find a pretty nice spot for you for sure. Ross, congratulations again. Thanks for joining us on KWBG. I appreciate it. Thank you. You bet. Ross Bauer again joining us. Madrid New Middle School Principal and Activities Director on KWBG.
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