The past five of Tom Eschbacher's eight years as principal of Parkersburg South High School have seen some major changes for the building. Those changes didn't end with the completion of construction in September. As the school year opened, the ninth grade was added to the student body.

"A lot of people think the sense of family at Parkersburg South has been disrupted," Eschbacher said Thursday. "I think this sort of reassures people that, maybe, things are going to be all right, and that we're going to rise back up and be even better than we were before."

Eschbacher is referring to his selection as principal of the year by the West Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals. It's an honor the association says comes due to Eschbacher dealing with the transition, as well as with his own recovery from brain tumor surgery just one year ago.

"That," he says, "on top of all the change that occurred here, with the ninth grade, the closing of lunch, the transition years, and 50% of our student body being brand new, it really has been a challenging year."

Eeschbacher is now in the running for national principal of the year honors.