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Wenker grew up Madison and graduated from Daniel Hand High School there. He said he's always been drawn to education, coming from a family of educators.
"My mom was a teacher and she finished up as an assistant principal," he said. "My older sister is a music teacher, another sister is an elementary teacher."
He got his bachelor of science degree from Southern Connecticut State University with a major in Physical Education, and a master's in Education from East Stroudsburg University with a major in Health and Physical Education. He received a Master's of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and completed his administrative certification requirements from Sacred Heart University.
Later, he chaired the Department of Physical Education at East Stroudsburg for a year, spent four years as administrative assistant in the Department of Athletics and a year as an administrative teaching assistant at East Stroudsburg. He then spent three years as a health/physical education teacher in the Windsor schools and three years as a general science teacher with the Branford schools.
"I think everything I've had the opportunity to do has helped prepare me for this position," he explained during the first week of school, when he still had unpacked boxes on the floor of his office. "Any time you're working with students, particularly teenagers, it helps you understand their needs and help to guide their needs."
He has also served as a senior pastor at two different churches, one on Long Island and one in Wildwood, NJ.
That involved working with young people just as much as his teaching and coaching experience, he said.
Especially in Wildwood, on the Jersey shore, Wenker noted. "It's a summer place. We would go out and see what we could do for the young people. There are a lot of things for them to do there. You're trying to offer them something a little more positive than what they are thinking about."
Being a pastor also involves management and administrative responsibilities, it's running an organization, he added.
"So I've always been working with kids, especially with this age group," he said.
Most recently he worked in Thomaston, spending five years as high school principal and one as assistant principal.
With almost 1,500 students, NHS is a much bigger school than Thomaston, Wenker said.
"This is significantly bigger but a lot of the issues are the same," he said. "The challenges are similar, just slightly magnified."
He said he was drawn to work here because "the Newington school system as a whole has always had a tremendous reputation."
"I think what's unique here is the unified commitment to high standards of excellence, something you notice right away when you come here," he said, adding that those high standards are seen everyone at the high school from the maintenance staff to the teaching staff to the way the students conduct themselves. "We want to be the best we can be."
Board of Education Chairman Dan Carson explained that the new principal was selected in late July. There was a month-long search process for a replacement for Dr. William C. Collins, who was named interim superintendent of schools.
Of Wenker, Carson said, "clearly he had a very diverse background in terms of his professional experience. He's a hands-on type of principal, very curriculum-focused. He is very familiar with what the expectations are."
"He's been engaged since Aug. 24 getting the school ready. Dr. Collins has been working hand in hand with him, Carson said.
"In addition to handling daily high school issues, Mr. Wenker has been instrumental in the completion of the NEAS&C [New England Association of Schools and Colleges] update report, initiated the start of a new self-study and was a participant in numerous NEAS&C visiting committees," according to a statement released by the Board of Education announcing the selection of the new principal.
"He has led professional development workshops on data driven instruction and spearheaded efforts to review and revise curriculum to meet state standards. Mr. Wenker has been very involved in the analysis of standardized testing, development of alternative programs for students, coordination of the use of facilities for athletic activities, monitoring the academic progress of student athletes with regard to university and NCAA requirements, coaching various teams, development of an adaptive physical education program for students with special needs, master schedule development and the development of strong partnerships with the community," the statement continued.
Wenker lives in Windsor with his wife Annette. "She's a cardiac rehabilitation specialist at St. Francis Hospital. After open heart surgery, she's the first person you see. You wake up after surgery, you have a huge scar, you're probably feeling very fragile," he said, she's the one who helps you get through that.
They have a daughter who graduated from the University of Connecticut last year, another daughter who's a sophomore at UConn, and a son who's a sophomore in high school.
