WINFIELD, W.Va. — Bruce McGrew said he always figured he would wrap up his education career as the principal of Winfield High School. This week, when he was named the new Putnam County Assistant Superintendent for Maintenance, he realized that wouldn’t be the case.
“I had no desire to got anywhere. This just happened to open up and it was really the only position I’d ever be interested in if I left and went to the county level,” McGrew said.
He’ll now be in charge of making sure all of the county’s school buildings are up to date and safely operating physically. It’s a lot different in some ways than his job of the past eight years as principal, but the goal remains the same.
“It’s a totally different job, but ultimately you’re still doing what’s best for students in Putnam County. You’re just not directly connected to the kids in the building and I’ll miss that very bad,” he said.
McGrew is a graduate of Poca High School and was an assistant football coach there for several years. Eventually he was hired as the head football coach at Winfield and over the past 22 years was a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and for the past eight years the principal at Winfield High.
“Again, I thought I was set, but I’ve always relied on God and He’s been good to me and presented opportunities. He has a plan, I can resist if I want, but you’ve got to follow Him.”