First cousins growing up together, Parke Heritage High School Principal Bruce Patton and Parke Heritage Middle School principal Lisa Wrightsman never dreamed that they would be working together and serving as principal at their “rival” school.
Patton’s dad and Wrightsman’s mom are siblings so the pair attended many family functions and holiday gatherings together. In high school, they were each other’s biggest supporters despite being from different high schools. Patton graduated from Turkey Run High School while Wrightsman attended Rockville High School. In a strange turn of events, they were both selected to become principal at what was once their rival county school.
“Rockville and Turkey Run were huge rivals, so schoolwise — we were rivals,” Wrightsman said. “My brother and I were the only ones going to Rockville, so it was a lot of people ‘against us’ on our family’s birthday Sunday each month.”
Another cousin, Justin, along with Patton attended Wrightsman’s high school volleyball games to show their support and they were known to dress in crazy attire a time or two. At her senior night, they attended with several other family members with letters on their shirts to spell out Wrightsman’s name.
Three years apart in age, Patton and Justin became mentors to Wrightsman during her freshman year at Indiana State University. She went to events with them and spent a lot of time at their dorm.
“Justin and I had a weekly tradition of hanging out on Thursdays. Bruce would partake — go to dinner, order pizza, milkshake runs at midnight, movies, etc.,” Wrightsman said.
Patton began his teaching and coaching career at Attica schools, where he made a significant impact by teaching elementary physical education. His innovative approach included incorporating various movement and music techniques into his lessons, making physical education enjoyable and engaging for his students.
One of Pattons’s notable contributions was inviting his students to showcase their basketball skills during home games. These events were particularly memorable as the students would dribble basketballs in sync with selected music, adding an entertaining and creative element to the games.
In recognition of his dedication and contributions to the field, Patton was honored in 2016 as the Outstanding Alumnus by the ISU Department of Kinesiology and Sport. This accolade reflects his commitment to excellence in education and coaching, as well as his ability to inspire and motivate young students through innovative teaching methods.
In August of 2021, he was named the Dean of Students and Transportation Director for Parke Heritage High School. Then in October of 2021, he became the PHHS principal.
“I became a principal because I felt called to do so,” Patton said. “I was in a position where I felt that I had great support from staff and students.”
Wrightsman started her career in education at Rockville Elementary. During her time there, she taught fourth, fifth and sixth grades. In 2021, she was named the curriculum director for the corporation with her office being at Parke Heritage Middle School. During that year, she discovered how much she enjoys working with middle school aged students. When the principal position became vacant in July of 2022, she decided to join Patton as one of the NCP Schools principals.
In the fifth grade, Wrightsman decided she wanted to be a teacher, principal and an author. Even though she finished her administration degree the day before giving birth to her son, Jackson, she wasn’t ready to dedicate the needed time to being a principal while her sons were little. So in 2022, when her sons were in school, she decided the time was right for her to serve in a principal role.
“I have had so many amazing role models that have guided me in this direction,” Wrightsman said. “I was blessed with many inspiring teachers growing up. As a principal, Sheila Rohr taught me as a student and then leader what it looks like to be a great administrator. She’d jump in a bathtub of blue Jell-O if we met our reading goals, she’d throw on roller skates, etc. She was also tough — she had high expectations, and you wanted to perform well to make her proud.”
Patton’s and Wrightsman’s family connection has helped them to join a strong alliance, which they now use to form a united front for Parke Heritage students. They work together to make sure that they are consistent in their discipline and incentive programs.
“I think we both want to hold students accountable, be consistent, and work to leave the place better than we found it,” Patton said. “I think we both think it is important to recognize the hard work of our students and to work to make our students better people.”
Wrightsman added, “Bruce has really helped me with my discipline chart and handbook, making it clearer cut. We want to incentivize children and reward them as often as we can. Our teams have gotten together to work on similar attendance procedures and prizes. We also look at discipline, attendance, grades, and other factors (volunteer hours for me) to take a couple of large field trips a year.”
When dealing with students, Patton strives to be honest and upfront with them; to be consistent and truthful and to hold students accountable.
Wrightsman recognizes that middle school students are in a weird state in that they are not little kids anymore, but they’re not adults. She realizes that their bodies are changing, their hormones are out of control, and their sense of belonging is confused. She wants a safe space for their voices to be heard while they’re figuring all of those things out.
“I want my students to know that they are capable of all the things,” she said. “I never want backgrounds to predetermine their results. If they have had rough starts, I want to help them find ways to overcome and believe that they can do anything they really want to do. I want our kids to always value service and giving back to their community. This community in particular is a beacon for our kids. They will do everything they can to help them succeed, so we have to make sure we are doing everything we can to show our gratitude. I never want ‘good enough’ to be a mentality.”
Her leadership at the middle school level and striving to connect and build relationships with her students were the main reasons that Wrightsman was named the 2023 Parke County Citizen of the Year.
Their family connection has provided them with the same ideals of working hard and putting effort into everything you start. They also want to show their students that school can be fun. Patton has had his head shaved, dyed his hair and been dunked many times in the water dunk tank. Wrightsman has had numerous shaving cream pies placed in her face and recently was slimed.
Working to create a family atmosphere, NCP Schools is fortunate to have this pair of cousins working together.
