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Travis Walker
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — “Fast and furious” is how Travis Walker describes his first six weeks as superintendent of Ludington Area School District.
Walker began his new position July 1 and has spent much of the summer learning the district, getting to know staff, filling key administrative positions and preparing for the return of students and teachers.
“It’s going well. I’m excited to be here,” Walker said. “We had a busy July. There’s been a lot going on, and I think everybody thinks summers are a little bit quieter and a little slower, but not at a central office, and especially this summer.”
The pace has surprised him.
“It’s been fast and furious, but it’s also been good,” he said.
Walker said much of his first month and a half has been about learning — both for him and for district employees adjusting to a new superintendent and his leadership style.
“We’ve got good people, supportive staff,” he said. “They’ve been very helpful. I can’t imagine the past month and a half, some of the things that I’ve had to tackle without some of the people here in central office and the administrators and the board and their support.”
Among the immediate tasks has been filling administrative vacancies. Walker said the district has selected candidates for an elementary principal position and director of special education position, with the appointments expected to go before the Board of Education for approval.
But as Walker prepares for his first school year in Ludington, he isn’t arriving with a list of changes he intends to impose on the district.
Instead, he said he wants to listen.
With teachers and other employees away for much of the summer, Walker said he has not yet had the opportunity to spend time in classrooms and hallways or to talk with enough staff members to determine where changes may be needed.
“I’m here to support the work that they do,” he said. “For one person to come in and say, ‘Here’s my vision. Here’s what we’re going to do,’ that could go really wrong.”
One process Walker knows is coming is development of the district’s next strategic plan.
LASD is reaching the end of its current five-year strategic plan, and Walker said he is soliciting proposals from firms that could help support and facilitate the next planning process.
Community surveys and forums are expected to begin this winter and spring, followed by some type of planning retreat. Walker said that process will help determine whether the district continues with its current direction, modifies the existing plan or develops a new one.
“What goes in the plan I can’t say,” Walker said. “That’s not up to me to say.”
Walker also sees continued development of professional learning communities, or PLCs, as an important part of the district’s work.
He said effective PLCs revolve around four questions: What do educators want students to know? How will they know whether students have learned it? What will they do when students haven’t learned it? And what will they do when students already know it?
Those questions guide everything from identifying essential standards and developing assessments to providing interventions and extending learning for students who have mastered a concept.
Walker said LASD has already begun that work, though there is room to strengthen the process.
“The bones are there, so that’s good,” he said.
The district also hired a multi-tiered system of supports coordinator before Walker arrived. He said that position will be important in helping the district develop interventions for students who need additional help and extend learning for students who are ready for greater challenges.
Another priority will be strengthening the culture within the district and its relationship with the community.
Walker said he first needs to hear from staff, parents and community members about what they need from him. But he already knows one part of his approach: He intends to be visible.
“I plan to be present, plan to be visible,” he said. “I think that goes a long ways right there.”
Walker recalled becoming superintendent at Brandywine Community Schools and finding the district short staffed in its custodial department. Rather than simply observing the problem from the superintendent’s office, he pitched in.
“I was cleaning tables, mopping floors,” he said.
While doing that, Walker discovered broken tables and found himself on the floor underneath them making repairs.
“I’m just going to be present and do what it takes,” he said.
As Ludington employees return for the school year, Walker said he wants to learn how he can work with them to strengthen the district’s culture.
“Sometimes just a friendly smile goes a long ways too,” he said. “Being personable and getting to know people.”
Walker is taking a similar approach to communicating with the community.
On Aug. 1, he released the first edition of “News from the Nest,” which he plans to publish on the first of each month. He said the updates are intended to keep the community informed while also providing an opportunity to highlight the work of students and staff.
“We have a lot of good things going on in the district, so celebrate the good things that are going on,” he said.
Walker said transparency also means communicating when the news isn’t good.
In July, he issued a letter to families and posted information on social media regarding a threat issue the district was addressing.
“We’re not going to hide from anything,” Walker said. “We’re going to be honest and transparent and open.”
He acknowledged that federal student privacy law and district policies sometimes prevent school officials from releasing as much information as the public may want, but said the goal will be to provide what information the district can.
Those efforts, he said, are starting points for rebuilding culture both within LASD and between the district and community.
Walker comes from a family with deep roots in education.
“I joined the family business,” he said.
His grandfather was a teacher before becoming a principal and superintendent. His grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse, and his father spent 38 years as a middle school educator.
Education, however, wasn’t necessarily Walker’s original career plan.
He initially wanted to become a physical therapist. It was after he was injured while playing sports in college that his direction began to change.
Walker knew he wanted to coach and decided the best way to become the type of coach he wanted to be was to work in schools and be involved in students’ lives every day. His interest in mathematics led him to teaching math.
Eventually, his focus began shifting from coaching toward educational leadership.
“As I was teaching and saw things going on in schools that I felt could be improved, I wanted to take on more leadership roles,” Walker said.
While he still enjoys being around athletics, Walker said his career has evolved toward working with students and adults, improving systems, raising expectations and helping schools improve.
Walker is a 2000 graduate of Manistee High School and grew up in Filer Township in Manistee County.
He earned an associate degree from West Shore Community College in 2002, a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Central Michigan University in 2006, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Grand Valley State University in 2014.
Walker had been the superintendent of Brandywine Community Schools since 2022. He previously served as middle school principal in the district from 2021 to 2022. From 2015 to 2020, he was high school principal at Constantine Public Schools. Walker’s teaching experience includes working as a mathematics instructional coach at Manistee Intermediate School District from 2012 to 2015; a high school math teacher at Kaleva Norman Dickson School District from 2009 to 2015; and a teacher at Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools from 2006 to 2009 (teaching middle school health for two years and high school math for one year).
The transition to Ludington is also becoming a family affair.
Walker said his son is already in Ludington with him and began freshman soccer this week. His daughter is expected to begin middle school cross country, and the family’s move is planned for next week.
Walker said his children, ages 14, 11 and 9, were initially hesitant about moving. Mentioning Ludington’s beach and House of Flavors helped generate some enthusiasm, but he said a June visit made the biggest difference.
Ludington principals gave the family a tour of the district’s buildings, and Walker said his children “really fell in love with it.”
“They know that there are some opportunities that exist here that don’t exist in their current district, and they’re looking forward to that,” he said.
Walker also has existing connections to Ludington and Scottville. He said some of his college friends were from the area and he has family locally.
That has made one part of the transition — trading his previous school colors for Ludington’s orange and black — relatively easy.
“Feels great,” Walker said.
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