WILMINGTON — Wilmington Middle School will have an interim principal for a couple months, and don’t be surprised if he shows up at a Hurricane basketball game while he’s at it.

Robert “Bob” Nocton started his temporary position this week, filling in while Bert Martini is out on medical leave. Nocton is a retired school administrator and teacher, but since he retired in 2014, he’s worked at six different school systems as a longer-term substitute administrator.

He was head basketball coach at a number of places in Ohio for 18 years including Tiffin and Middletown High School, then coached men’s basketball at Miami University of Middletown for a decade.

In the classroom prior to his administrative work, Nocton taught social studies.

His most recent interim principal positions have included Middletown Madison High School, Fairfield Creekside Middle School, Kings Junior High and Rosa Parks Elementary, states the Wilmington Middle School page on the school district’s website.

At the Monday school board meeting, Wilmington Middle School Assistant Principal Misty Ewry thanked the Wilmington Schools Foundation for providing the funds for a field trip to Columbus, adding that some of the youngsters had never traveled outside this area.

At the middle school, there’s been a focus on classroom discussion strategies, said Ewry.

There are extra-curricular clubs at the middle school, she said, including a math club.

“So believe it or not some of our kids come back for more math and really love it, and it’s building some relationships there,” Ewry added.

One of the more noteworthy things occurring at the middle school is in the eighth-grade science class which includes a “gamification” approach. Gamification involves adding games or gamelike elements to a task to encourage participation.

“This month they actually did some engineering design process with earthquake-resistance two-story buildings, where students had to test the quality of that product. And right now they’re working through tsunami-resistance houses,” said Ewry.

Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.