David LaBounty is new Warden superintendent

WARDEN - David LaBounty was a professional baseball player, then a director of a youth organization in southern California, then a teacher with certifications in PE and health, special education and history, then an administrator. He said all his experiences are preparation for his new job as superintendent of the Warden School District.

LaBounty, 54, replaces Sandra Sheldon, who retired from Warden at the end of the 2012-13 school year and accepted a job in Fallon, Nev. LaBounty's salary will be $120,000 per year.

"Education is lifelong," LaBounty said. And in the case of children, it's not confined to the classroom, he said.

LaBounty grew up in Moses Lake and is a graduate of Ephrata High School. The characteristics that shaped him are things he learned in Moses Lake and Ephrata when he was growing up, "diligence, hard work, honesty, integrity," he said. He wants to pass those lessons along to the kids in the schools where he works, he said.

"I was a third round draft pick with Kansas City," LaBounty said, and played for teams owned by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners.

He played baseball for minor league teams along the southeastern coast, from Virginia to Florida, in the Mexican League where teams traveled the northern part of the country to Mexico City, and in Bellingham of the Pacific Coast League. He was a pitcher. The legendary pitcher Gaylord Perry offered to sell LaBounty his pitching secrets, he said - and was one step below the major leagues when injuries ended his career. He had opportunities for a new career, people he had met during his playing days. "I opted to work with kids," he said.

That led to a job operating the YMCA in Downey, Calif., which in turn pointed him to a career in education. Schools are important to communities, he said, and that makes education an important job.

LaBounty spent the last 12 years in the Bethel School District, with his last job being the principal of Challenger High School, an alternative school. Challenger's graduation rates improved while he was there, LaBounty said, and it became a school where kids had to apply to enter. Successful schools have some common characteristics, he said.

Educational goals have to be driven by the data, he said, both for individual students and the whole school. Teachers and administrators have to know how to shape teaching to each child's needs, he said, and all staff needs to work together. "Collaboration is really strong," not just within each grade or each subject, but among all grades, he said.

Teachers and administrators should be focused on what kids are missing, because there are always gaps, he said. "Our job is to find those gaps" and fill them, LaBounty said.

Teachers and administrators need to listen to kids. "They want to partner," he said. But kids must meet the expectations of the adults and be held accountable for their education and their actions, he said.

LaBounty screened the possibilities when he decided to apply for a superintendent's job, he said, and Warden made the short list. "It's a hidden little jewel," he said.

He's been favorably impressed by the parents, students and district patrons he's met. Parents and kids alike seem to be very committed to education, he said. "I have the feeling they're very involved," he said.