Hastings to serve as WHS principal; Luke to retire from middle school post

Tony Hastings has accepted the position of Worthington High School principal, according to an Independent School District 518 press release issued Friday.

Hastings has been the WHS assistant principal for the past seven years. Before that, he served as assistant principal at Worthington Middle School for six years.

Hastings is a graduate of St. Cloud State University, earning a degree in special education. He received his master's degree from St. Mary’s University in Winona, and his K–12 principal licensure from St. Cloud State University. He began his teaching career with 16 years in special education in the St. Cloud area.

Said Hastings in the WHS press release: “I have truly loved the last seven years at WHS in my role as the assistant principal and now I look forward to my new role. I want to thank the hiring committee and a number of you that encouraged my application. I believe that we do great things here for all of our students and will continue to strive to do things even better.”

Hastings will begin his new role as principal on July 1.

District 518 also announced Friday that Worthington Middle School Principal Jeff Luke has formally announced that he will be retiring at the end of the school year.

Luke attended and graduated college from Augsburg in 1986 with a degree in elementary education with a minor in math. He received his elementary administration certification from the University of St. Thomas in 1991 and licensure from Minnesota State University Mankato in 2001. He started his teaching career substitute teaching in St. Paul and many south metro school districts, and he spent 14 years teaching fifth grade in Farmington prior to coming to Worthington.

Luke's career in District 518 included starting at Prairie Elementary in 2002 as the assistant principal, then moving to WMS as assistant principal in 2008 before moving up to WMS Principal in the 2009–2010 school year.

Said Luke: “It’s been a great adventure; I’m so glad I agreed to come to WMS! I never knew how badly these kids need us in their lives. Keep on making those connections and continue to save as many of them as you can.”