Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A high school principal isn’t a parent, but it’s a parental role, W. Gus LeBlanc said Thursday.

This fall LeBlanc will parent about 1,300 students when he takes over as principal of Lewiston High School, one of the largest high schools in Maine.

LeBlanc, 54, is the father of two college students. He says he likes teenagers.

“It’s one of the reasons I’m going back,” said LeBlanc. “Teenagers are real. They’re full of life. They embody our hopes and dreams.”

High school is a time when teens begin to act on their dreams, he said. “It’s exciting to be around them, to be part of that, to support that.”

For the past eight years LeBlanc has been principal of Montello Elementary School. Before that he was principal, assistant principal or athletic director of Leavitt Area High School in Turner, Oak Hill in Wales and Dexter Regional High School. He began his career as a high school social studies teacher in Old Town, where he grew up.

One of his goals at Lewiston High School is to be a visible and accessible principal.

“Students and adults are more willing to work with you if they feel they can have some personal interaction from you,” LeBlanc said.

He plans to be in the halls when students change classes. He’ll watch his Blue Devils play hockey, basketball, softball, baseball and track. He’ll watch his Air Force ROTC students show off their drills and his art and music students perform.

“When I was in high school I knew when my mom and dad were at my football games, my baseball games,” he said. “I might not have said to them, Gee, thanks for being there, but in my heart I was saying that.” His parents showing up illustrated they cared about who he was and what he was doing.

It’s the same thing when the principal is at school events: It shows he cares, LeBlanc said.

He said the timing is right to take the job. An Auburn resident for 18 years, he’s watched what’s happening in Lewiston. Downtown renewal, economic development and new employers show Lewiston is a city on the move, he said.

He plans to make Lewiston High an educational showcase in a city that’s moving onto bigger and better things.

“It’s kind of like a two-lane highway,” LeBlanc said. “We’ve got the city going that way, let’s get this high school in the other lane and move ahead with them.”

This fall’s freshmen, the Class of 2010, will be LeBlanc’s first four-year class. His goal is to ensure they have what they need. The Class of 2010 is also when state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has said that 100 percent of high school graduates must graduate ready for college.

LeBlanc agrees with that.

When he grew up on Old Town it had a paper mill, three shoe shops, a woolen mill and a pie plate factory. “Today none of those industries exist anymore,” he said. “The industrial jobs that built this country are going by the wayside.”

He’ll look at changing the Lewiston High curriculum.

“I want to make sure our high school requirements, core curriculum and electives almost ensure that a student graduating has what he or she needs to pursue college.”

For example, all graduates should have had algebra, which helps students get into four- or two-year programs, or helps them in the work force, LeBlanc said.

“It’s more than education. It’s putting kids in position where they are marketable for the rest of their life.”

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