Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Anders Hill answers questions from board members prior to being named Houghton-Portage Township Schools superintendent at Monday’s meeting. Hill has been principal at Houghton Elementary School since 2013.

HOUGHTON — As Houghton Elementary School principal, Anders Hill has tried to instill the concept of “servant leadership.” He purposely chooses the furthest parking spot, rather than reserving a prime spot closer to the door.

Next year, he’ll be continuing that mentality in a different lot. Hill was unanimously named superintendent of Houghton-Portage Township Schools during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Hill has been principal at Houghton Elementary School since 2013. As he did in that role, he will replace Doreen Kramer, who is retiring at the end of December.

Before coming to Houghton, Hill spent five years as principal at various schools in Menominee.

Prior to the vote, members praised Hill for his leadership style and his connection with the student, who he high-fives at the entrance each day.

“Eight years ago, I saw the high-fives and the first bumps and I was like, ‘I give this guy six months, and he’s going to be sitting in his office,'” said Vice President Amanda Massaway. “I’m glad to say I was wrong.”

Hill said he was humbled by the hire and the praise for him.

“That kind of positive talk doesn’t happen,” he said. “I’ve always been lucky to work with great people, and I think that’s a testament to people at the elementary school. I know I’m filling big shoes. We have a great superintendent there now, and I have a lot of work to do to earn trust and be as competent as she is.”

Hill becomes the fourth superintendent in a row to have previously been elementary school principal. Board President Nels Christopherson said as leader of a separate building, the position has proven to be a good training ground for district leaders.

The hire is contingent on mutual agreement of his employment contract. If all goes as planned, Hill will start in the position Jan. 3. His first major challenge: finding his successor as elementary school principal.

“There’s a lot of really qualified people in our district, and I know there’s people out there who are smarter than I am,” he said. “We’re going to really work to find the right person, the right fit for that building.”

Hill was the only applicant for the position. He answered 16 questions from the board Monday night on topics such as how to build consensus or programs he has initiated to address all student learning styles.

Someone once told him “Tradition is Latin for ‘Nobody had any good ideas,'” Hill said. He talked about additions such as a partnership with the University of Oregon on reading instruction that had led to gains among students.

“I think as educational leaders, we need to keep finding the next things we can try, especially if teachers are excited about it,” he said.

Asked about how he incorporated data as principal, Hill discussed the steps the school took to address a reading gap between girls and boys. They found that all children, and particularly boys, benefitted from reading non-fiction. For the past six or seven years, the school has also built in time during the day for students to read.

“We’ve seen that gap close, and we’ve seen all of our scores go up,” he said.

A Copper Country native, Hill attended Central Michigan University, where he majored in education. He student-taught at Iron Mountain High School before his first teaching job in McBain, Michigan, near Cadillac. He taught eighth grade science and coached four sports.

When the principal who hired him became superintendent in Menominee, he asked Hill to apply for an assistant principal position at the high school. After three years as elementary principal, he became principal of the middle, high and alternative high school.

“I really recruited Houghton,” he said. “Houghton was where I wanted to be. I was looking for opportunities here where I was going to be the principal or that’s where my kids are going to go to school. And I know the type of school that Houghton had, the things going on here.”