WOLSEY — The Wolsey-Wessington School Board announces the hire of Riley Donovan to be Superintendent of the district, beginning July 1.

Donovan is originally from Kasson, Minn., but attended the University of South Dakota to play football. He got his Master’s Degree and coached football at Minnesota State - Moorhead before beginning his teaching and administration career. Most recently, he’s been at Bennett County serving as elementary principal, athletic director, and head football coach.

He is excited to be part of the Wolsey-Wessington community.

“The community is the first thing that drew me to Wolsey-Wessington,” he said. “There is such a strong pride in the school, and I want to be part of that.”

He continued, “Whenever asking anybody about Wolsey-Wessington, they always talk about how wonderful the staff is, and I can’t wait to learn and grow with them.”

Donovan has goals to help Wolsey-Wessington continue moving forward once he takes the reigns in July.

“Getting enrollment back to where it was is the main challenge I see going into the job,” Donovan observed. “Wolsey-Wessington has a lot to offer being a small school district. We can give most of the classes a larger district does but have that small school feel.”

Donovan shared an example of that direction. “We made it a priority to hire a band teacher because we want our students to experience as much as they can while they are here,” he stated.

Donovan and his wife, Aimee, have two children.