Paulie Vogrinec is a Carbon County girl through and through. She grew up here and got her education here. Over her years she has been around the district and even at Notre Dame School for a few years.

This year she will be the principal at Wellington Elementary.

“I grew up in Price and went to Reeves, Mont Harmon and Carbon High,” she said. “I then went on to get my Associates Degree through the College of Eastern Utah. From there I attended Utah State Extension to receive my Bachelors in Elementary Education. It was one of the first extension programs they brought to this area.”

When she graduated from the program, there was an overabundance of teachers coming out of universities. Consequently, she started in education at a para professional at Durrant Elementary because there weren’t many teaching jobs open.

When Durrant closed she moved to work at Sally Mauro. After about a year and half her first child came along. She had plans to return to the school but a teaching position came open at Notre Dame School and she took that.

“I ran the preschool program there for four years,” she stated. “I really loved teaching preschool.”

She then went back to Sally Mauro half time but after a year a full time position came open at the school and she moved to instructing sixth grade students. After four years, the school’s enrollment dropped and she was moved to Castle Heights Elementary. The next year an opening occurred at Sally Mauro in the sixth grade. In 2012, she became the school’s instructional coach.

“I was there until this summer,” she said. “This will be my 25th year in education.”

She said one of the best experiences for her has been the many different places she has worked and the different roles she has served in because she has had the opportunity to “get to know teachers across the district.”

“I didn’t ever think I would be an administrator, in fact I really didn’t have the desire to be one,” she said. “But in 2008 Seth Allred became the principal at Sally Mauro, and he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. It kind of snowballed and as other principals came and went.”

That degree came just in time for her to be eligible for a principal’s job.

“I didn’t expect it to happen so fast,” she explained. “Last year we had three new elementary principals, so I didn’t see this coming.”

She has met with every employee at the school and many parents as well.

“As far as what I am most excited about, it is the same thing all of us here are excited about. We just want the kids back in school.  All these teachers, they didn’t go to school to teach through a computer. For some children, our school is their safe haven and we want to be here for them,” she concluded.