Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Brian Maley, Rosalia High school grad who was raised on the family farm, will be principal and athletic director at Tekoa High School. He will start officially Aug. 20, after 10 years teaching middle school and coaching at Rainier, near Olympia.
Maley, son of Bob and the late Sally Maley, said he has been attempting to get back to the east side of the state.
“The past two years I’ve applied around Eastern Washington and a lot of times was second place,” he said. “I’m grateful that Tekoa has given me the opportunity.”
He will succeed Wayne Roellich, who retired after 41 years at Tekoa.
As part of Maley’s responsibilities in Rainier, he acted as a substitute principal when administrators were absent.
This will be his first full-time principal position.
Maley played football, basketball and baseball for the Rosalia Spartans. He earned his teaching degree and certificate at Whitworth in Spokane. During summer breaks for his first years in Rainier, he returned to the family farm and took classes toward a masters in educational leadership at Eastern Washingotn University.
Lately, he has been going over local names.
“I got my hands on a yearbook, and I’ve been quizzing myself,” he said.
Once before, he got to know a lot of names around the county, often with jersey numbers attached, while playing quarterback/linebacker for Rosalia’s eight-man football team.
“Eight-man is almost like basketball,” he said. “You just guard someone.”
After high school, Maley played baseball for Whitworth before becoming head coach for football and basketball at Rainier Middle School and an assistant at the high school. As a teacher, he taught “practically everything,” from social studies to math to English, even art one year.
He doesn’t plan to be teaching or coaching this year.
“Maybe sometime in the future if I start to get the hang of it here,” Maley said.
Now that he is back in the area, will he work on the farm at harvest time?
“This year they’re going to give me some time off, due to the new job,” he said with a laugh.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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