.png)
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Three men, each with local ties, are vying for the position of the next superintendent of Ludington Area School District. During a special meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Education selected three applicants, out of 19, based on assistance from Michigan Leadership Institute. Two of the candidates are graduates of West Shore Community College and one is a native of Mason County.
Those candidates include: Frank Marietta, Travis Walker and Jonathan Wennstrom.
Frank Marietta
Frank Marietta is currently employed as Ludington High School assistant principal. He was hired by LASD in 2023. Previously, he was middle school principal at Ravenna Public School District from 2019-2023 and Fennville Public Schools assistant high school principal and athletic director from 2015-2019. From 2008-2015, he worked for Reeths-Puffer Public Schools as an intermediate and middle school teacher, assistant athletic director and coach.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Central Michigan University in 2000 and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Western Michigan University in 2011.
“I am grateful for the relationships I have built across our district with staff, families, students, and community partners, and I am inspired daily by the pride this community has in its schools,” Marietta said. “It would be an honor to continue serving Ludington in this expanded capacity and to work alongside the Board of Education to advance a clear, shared vision for the future.”
Travis Walker
Travis Walker has been the superintendent of Brandywine Community Schools since 2022. He had previously served as middle school principal at the school district from 2021 to 2022. From 2015 to 2020 he was high school principal at Constantine Public Schools. Walker’s teaching experience included working as a mathematics instructional coach at Manistee Intermediate School District from 2012 to 2015; high school math teacher at Kaleva Norman Dickson School District from 2009 to 2015; and 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).
Walker is a 2000 graduate of Manistee High School and 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 grew up in Filer City. He said he spent a lot of time in Mason County at his grandparent’s house on Johnson Road in Amber Township (his grandparents were Bill and Laura Walker, who were career educators).
“My interest in this role is as personal as it is professional,” Walker said.It would be a privilege for my own children to grow up in the Ludington community, a district capable of providing the academic and extra-curricular excellence that prepares students for a lifetime of success.”
Jonathon Wennstrom
Jonathon Wennstrom has been an elementary school principal at Livonia Public Schools since 2012. Prior, he served as an elementary school principal at Warren Woods Public Schools from 2008 to 2012; elementary and middle school principal at Woodmont Academy from 2007 to 2008; and chief academic officer of Baker College of Cadillac from 2004 to 2007. He was an online instructor for the University of Phoenix from 2007 to 2012, teaching in the master of education program. Wennstrom began his teaching career at Cadillac Public School District from 1995 to 2004 where he served as a teacher, varstiy wrestling coach and then a principal. He also is a past president of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association (2020-2021) and was on the board of directors of the National Association of Elementary Principals (2022-2025).
Wennstrom grew up in Amber Township and is a 1990 graduate of Mason County Central High School. He earned an associate degree from West Shore Community College in 1992, a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Michigan University in 1995, and a master’s degree in educational administration from Central Michigan University in 2000.
“I would be very invested in the community because it is the community in which I grew up,” Wennstrom said. “I was raised on Hackert (Crystal) Lake and graduated from both Mason County Central High School and West Shore Community College. My father was a member of the Optimist Club and served with the Mason County Historical Society and my mother was a nurse at Memorial Medical Center (Corewell Health). Although my parents have passed and I’ve moved away, I’ve always kept close ties to the community and am ready to return home to serve LASD as superintendent, should I be selected for this exceptional opportunity.”
The board of education will hold interviews, which are open to the public on Wednesday, March 18 and Tuesday, March 19 at the O.J. DeJonge Middle School cafeteria. Marietta will be interviewed at 6 p.m. on March 18. Walker will be interviewed at 7:30 p.m. on March 18 and Wennstrom will be interviewed at 6 p.m. on March 19.
_______________________________________
Please Support Local News and Sports Coverage
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2026, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
