New School Superintendent Appointed to DDA
David Washburn, the new Comstock Park School Superintendent, has been appointed to the Comstock Park Downtown Development Authority. “I feel it’s important for me to partner with the DDA to help promote economic growth and encourage historic preservation within the central business district,” said Washburn. “Building and maintaining a healthy business environment will have a positive impact for the Comstock Park Public Schools.”
Washburn was hired in August to replace former Superintendent Ethan Ebenstein, who was with the school district for ten years and a DDA Board member since 2016. Ebenstein left in July to become superintendent of the Ionia County Intermediate School District.
Washburn began his career in education teaching at the elementary level in Rockford Public Schools. He said he was coaching football and track at Forest Hills Northern High School
at the same time, and he accepted a teaching position at Northern Hills Middle School so he could teach and coach in the same district. He served as assistant principal at Northern Hills Middle School, athletic director and assistant principal at Eastern High School, principal at Goodwillie Environmental School, and finally as principal at Eastern Middle School for ten years before coming to Comstock Park.
Washburn said it’s important for the Comstock Park Schools to partner with the DDA to “ensure we are working together to do what’s best for the Comstock Park Community.” Washburn has also joined the Rotary “to help promote community involvement between the community and Comstock Park Public Schools.”
Washburn’s wife Kirsten, who is also an educator, has relatives who live in Comstock Park and who have children in the Comstock Park schools. He said that when the superintendent position became available he reached out to them to gain more information about Comstock Park schools and community. “My conversation with them was extremely positive, and I knew Comstock Park was where I wanted to be,” he said adding, “I’m extremely humbled and grateful that everything worked out.”
Washburn earned a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation at Aquinas College and received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Western Michigan University. He and his wife Kirsten, live in Grand Rapids. They have three children – a daughter who is a senior at Grand Valley State University, a son who is a junior in high school, and a daughter who is a freshman in high school. He said that when he’s not working, which hasn’t been often while he’s adjusting to his new role, he likes outdoor activities.“I really enjoy taking my kids fishing to the family cottage up north,” he said. “We also enjoy going to the beach and boating. I enjoy attending my daughter’s athletic events, watching college and professional football games and exercising.”
(October 2018)