The Junction City High School Athletic Director, Matthew Westerhaus, will be coming to Great Bend later this year to become the next USD 428 Activities Director.

The school board held a meeting Tuesday at Park Elementary School that was attended by Westerhaus and his wife Gretchen. After a 15-minute executive session to discuss the application for employment, the board voted to approve a personnel report that included his appointment.

Westerhaus will replace David Meter, who is retiring from the position of activities director at the end of the school year. Westerhaus will be on an 11-month administrative contract that starts Aug. 1, Superintendent Khris Thexton said.

According to the JCHS website, Westerhaus has been in education for the past 18 years, seven as a classroom instructor and the past 11 years as athletic director at the school. He is a 1991 graduate of Junction City High School. He attended Benedictine College, where he played basketball and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in health, physical education and recreation in 1995.

He obtained his Certified Athletic Administrator’s designation through the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He has also coached various sports.

“I’m very excited,” Westerhaus said of his new position. “I’m looking forward to getting the meet everybody here in Great Bend.”

Each month during the school year, a different school hosts a luncheon school board meeting. This meeting was held at Park Elementary School, where Principal Adam Cline and other staff members shared information regarding the academic programs and school improvement efforts at the school.