LeGault now ‘home’

By Dean Shipley

Staff Writer

The “new” woman on the Madison-Plains campus is Kimberly LeGault, the newly appointed principal of Madison-Plains Junior High School. LeGault, in her first administrative position in her 12-year education career, is not new to the district. She grew up in the district and is a Golden Eagles alumna, class of 1997.

Twelve years before that, LeGault, then Kim Geyer, knew in first grade she wanted to be a teacher.

“It’s what I always wanted to do,” LeGault said Wednesday from her office in the new junior high wing.

Kim LeGault, a 1997 alumna of Madison-Plains High School, returns to the district in her first administrative role as junior high principal.

LeGault has taught for 11 years, two years in Jefferson Local Schools and nine in South-Western City Schools in Franklin County. During her time at South-Western, she was encouraged to take on leadership roles, building leadership teams.

“They opened doors for me,” LeGault said of administrators there. They induced her to answer the question what can I do to help everyone else?

That insists LeGault helped her segue into her first assignment as principal. She takes over for Geoffrey Bean, the former junior high principal, who was assigned to the elementary school upon the retirement of Madeline Holt.

She sees her role as a provider for her staff of 16 teachers, to make sure their needs are met, which ultimately are targeted to the educational needs of the students.

She sees the Madison-Plains district as a small, progressive school district which endeavors to be cutting edge in education. As such it is making the effort to be up to date in technology and develop curricula that will best equip students to move forward in the current century.

She sees her role as being a supporter of her staff, to encourage them to be “open and willing to change, to do what is best for students.” Their goal is to increase student achievement of every student who walks through the door.

She and her husband, Ed LeGault, and their four daughters reside in the district, which underlines their belief in the philosophy of the school district. She and her husband put family first and insists time with family is very important. She leads a Cloverbud group in the Madison Busy Farmers 4H group and is a teacher for a pre-K-Kindergarten class at First Presbyterian Church.

She also leads a Weight Watchers meeting.