Brian Hunicke
Superintendent 

Background

For those of you who don’t know me I have a short story to tell you.  Before I became an educator I was a fire fighter for several years with the various agencies stationed in different states and performing many tasks.  In 1994 I ended up working the Robie Creek fire for 42 days as a Negrito Hotshot squad boss.  I saw some of the most awesome and terrifying fire behavior in all my years fighting fire in the Boise National Forest.  I worked a straight 32 hour shift trying to save some houses in the Robie Creek area and I hunkered in at Grahm Guard station and watched 300 foot flames blow over the airstrip with fellow shots huddled in to the middle of the air strip.  I remember thinking, “How can I get back to this beautiful area and town?”

After cracking C5 and C6 in a rock climbing accident in the Sierras I thought I better go back to school at Eastern Oregon University to earn a Masters in Teaching degree on top of my B.S. in Geology from CSUS so I could teach the natural sciences and use some of my mining, forestry, and hydrologist tech experience (another story).  I met my wife at EOU and talked her into teaching in Klamath Falls, OR at KU High School where I taught Earth science and physics, and coached high school and Legion baseball.  My wife and I eventually ended up in Boise where I found a job teaching Earth science, biology, and physical science at North Junior High School in the Boise School District and coached baseball at Borah High School.

After some 10 years working in the Boise School District I dove into an education startup company with two other teachers called Prepdog.com and Prepdog.org.   After a few years I decided to try to make a difference at the university level by working as the teacher professional development coordinator for Boise State University.  In the mean time my wife was offered a position as the STEM Director for the Austin ,TX Girl Scouts so we moved our daughter and two dogs to Texas.  I took on a position with the Mind Research Institute as a partnership developer.  It didn’t take our family long to realize we belonged back in Idaho.

While I was at Boise State I had the privileged of awarding this guy named Jason Roeber with some BSU football tickets not knowing what kind of football fan he was.  Jason gave me the grand tour of the school and the Idaho Center for Outdoor Education.  My first thought was how much potential the area had for education and getting students outside into nature.  I kept an eye out for an opening and called John McFarlane several times to see if he had an openings.  The planets must have aligned, before I knew it we sold our house in Texas and loaded up our belongings to land in a 1000 square foot house in Duquette Pines.

I ended up going back to school at Boise State to obtain my Education Leadership Specialist degree/certificate so I could be an administrator.  Last year was my first year of being a superintendent while attending university full time.  After two years I successfully completed my degree and here I am!

Current
I am honored to be the superintendent of the Basin School District and I am lucky to have such an outstanding staff as well as an incredible student body.  I love the fact that I get to play the part in helping guide students from pre-kindergarten to seniors.  I will continue to help guide students and give them the tools and skills needed to be happy and successful members of society wherever they may land in the future.

I welcome all community member and stakeholder input.  Feel free to call, email, or stop in the district office to discuss ideas, opportunities, issues, recommendations, volunteer, or just say hi.  Maybe you just want to stop by and try our zip line or snow shoeing.  I am always looking for ways to make the school and the education experience a positive one.

Email me at [email protected] with your idea on how we can improve the district and your child’s experience!