Voytko resigns as Meeker High School principal

MEEKER I Jeremy Voytko, the principal at Meeker High School for the past year, turned in his letter of resignation on May 15.
Susan Goettel, the superintendent of Meeker School District, reported that Voytko will be moving to a new position as assistant principal at Coal Ridge High School, which serves Silt and New Castle and which is within the Garfield School District No. Re-2. Voytko’s resignation is effective July 11, but he said his last day in the office was Monday.
Voytko was in his first year as principal at Meeker High School, having been hired from Telluride, Colo., where he was a classroom teacher.
“Mr. Voytko is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable and is a dedicated reader, and that is very indicative,” Goettel said. “Jeremy has an excellent future in education administration, I believe, and I wish him well.”
Goettel said that the vacancy has already been advertised, the first step in finding a replacement principal.
“This was really a tough decision,” Voytko said. “My folks live on the Front Range (Berthod, Colo.) and my wife’s family lives in the Midwest, and this puts us closer to an airport.
“I am extremely grateful to the town and the district,” he said. “I am going to miss a lot of people, but this just seems like the right thing for us to do right now.”
Voytko earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and anthropology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1999. He followed that up with his first master’s degree, in secondary science education, from the Stockholm Institute of Education in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2003.
In 2013, Voytko just completed his second master’s degree — in education leadership — from Western State University in Gunnison. As far as having plans for any further degrees such as a doctorate, Voytko laughingly stated, “Not yet.”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be principal at Meeker High School,” Voytko said. “The kids in Meeker are absolutely phenomenal. This will be a well-remembered part of my career, but I don’t think for all of the family this opportunity was one we could pass up.”