Derik Hutton Named South Ripley Junior High School Principal

Beginning July 1, Hutton will officially be the new Principal of South Ripley Junior High School.

(Board President Tim Taylor presents new Jr. High Principal Derik Hutton with some South Ripley attire to welcome him back to his alma mater. Derik’s wife, Casey, and sons Hawk and River are also welcomed. Photo provided.)

(Versailles, Ind.) - South Ripley Community School Corporation is pleased to announce that Derik Hutton has been named the new Principal of South Ripley Junior High School beginning July 1, 2020. Hutton replaces Destiny Rutzel who resigned effective at the end of the current school year to take a position as an Educational Training Manager with Vitas Health Care. Rutzel has been serving as the Principal at South Ripley Junior High School for the past six years.

Hutton is an alumnus of South Ripley High School, graduating in 2002. He has spent the past 12 years teaching health and physical education at Southwestern Hanover Middle and High Schools. He has also served in the role of Head Baseball Coach for the past 11 years at Southwestern, leading the program to the two most successful seasons in the past 20 years in 2017 and 2018. He has served on the School Improvement Team for four years and developed the weight-training curriculum for the advanced physical education classes at Southwestern.

In addition to teaching at Southwestern, Hutton also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Hanover College, a role he has held since 2017. Through this position, Hutton has had the opportunity to mentor future educators, and helped to develop and refine the curriculum for teacher preparation based on his experience as a classroom teacher.

Derik received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Southern Indiana in 2007 and earned a Master’s Degree from Ball State University in 2017. He is currently enrolled in the Educational Leadership Program through Western Governors University (WGU Indiana) where he will obtain his principal licensure.

Derik and his wife, Casey, live in Versailles with their two children Hawk, age 4, and River, who will turn 2 this summer. Casey is employed as a special education teacher at South Ripley Elementary School.

Rob Moorhead, South Ripley Community School Corporation Superintendent commented, “We are very pleased to be bringing Derik back home to South Ripley. Although he may not currently have experience as a principal, he definitely has a great deal of leadership experience from his time teaching and coaching at Southwestern. His experience working with future teachers at Hanover College also helped him to stand out amongst our applicants. Additionally, he brings a great deal of knowledge about the South Ripley Community to the position, and we look forward to him working with the staff to continue the tradition of academic excellence at our junior high school. He is definitely a relationship guy, and I know the students and staff at SRJHS will benefit from his leadership.”