by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Maple Heights -- It may be a new year on the calendar, but as school resumes, Wayne Marok expects it to be business as usual.

Marok, 50, who in August replaced Nancy Santilli as the Maple Heights High School principal, will begin the new year where he left off before Christmas -- working to raise student achievement scores.

A former principal at Cleveland's James Ford Rhodes High School, Marok said he has spent his first few months at the helm of the high school "getting to know all the students and faculty."

Marok said participating in athletics as a youngster at a YMCA in Toledo led him to become a physical education teacher, which eventually led to his 27-year teaching career.

When not at school or in meetings with parents, students or the Board of Education, he likes to relax by shedding the business suit and grabbing his favorite two-wheeled form of transportation -- biking.

Weather permitting, Marok said he likes to hit the trail "a couple of times a week."

"I just started last year," he said.

Before the bike, Marok said he was working in the gym to rehabilitate a hip injury.

"I was riding a stationary bike at the gym and decided to try a regular bike," he said.

Marok said it was a little hard to find his balance after not being on a bicycle for several years.

But now he rides 13 to 20 miles, sometimes picking up a biking buddy along the way.

"It's pretty strange how you get to know a lot of people that way," he said.

Another form of exercise Marok enjoys is jumping in a pool and doing a few laps.

"I like swimming, but I'm not going to get into a triathlon," he laughed, referring to a sport that combines biking, swimming and running along a course.

"I cannot run anymore since my hip replacement," he said.

He said the injury was aggravated by an arthritic hip which was partially the result of a career of high school and college gymnastics.

"I was an all-around gymnast," he said. "And when I was younger I did really well."

Marok competed for Roy C. Start High School in Toledo, then moved on to the University of Toledo.

And just like his hip, he said he believes the public school system is being rehabilitated.

"I think we are fighting a public perception about public schools that sort of turns people off to them," the principal said.

"And people look for the bad," he added.

But, he said the Maple Heights schools are breaking that perception and will one day "become a role model" for schools across the nation.

"I think that teaching, to watch kids learn and succeed, is a great feeling," he said. "Just being a part of that is a highlight."

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3165