Diamond, MSSU graduate takes Tonganoxie principal post

Jamie Carlisle, a graduate of Diamond High School and Missouri Southern State University, has taken the high school principal position in Tonganoxie, Kan:

Carlisle, meanwhile, comes to Tonganoxie after spending 10 years at Baxter Springs. He served as a math teacher for four years before being hired as assistant principal. He also served for a time as high school boys basketball coach at Baxter Springs and was the school's athletics director for two years.

Before working in the southeast Kansas school district, he taught eight years at Carl Junction (Mo.) High School. While at CJHS, he taught math and coached basketball.

He graduated from Diamond High School in southwest Missouri and then attended college at York (Neb.) Christian College. He played baseball at the school, which, at the time, was a two-year college.

He attended Oklahoma Christian College in Edmond, Okla., for a semester before heading to Joplin, Mo., and Missouri Southern State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics. While there, he met his wife, Val, who overall served 17 years as student activities coordinator at the university.

"That's how I met her," Carlisle said.

Carlisle, who is 43, later earned his master's degree in administration from Pittsburg State University.

They have two children, a daughter, Cara, who is 17 and will be a senior next year, and Jeremy, 14, who will be a freshman next year.