A Northwest Indiana Life in the Spotlight: Greg Mikulich

For Greg Mikulich, leadership isn’t about titles – it’s about fist bumps, positivity, and leading by example. Now in his third year as superintendent of Knox Community Schools, Mikulich has spent more than two decades in education, driven by a passion to help students and staff reach their full potential.

Mikulich grew up in Schererville and graduated from Lake Central High School in 1995. He attended Tri-State University (now Trine University) in Angola on a football scholarship and graduated in 1999. He spent 16 years as a physical education teacher at North Newton High School, where he also served as head baseball coach for 11 years. Those early years in the classroom helped him discover his natural leadership abilities.

“I saw leadership characteristics of myself, and after being in the physical education (PE) classroom for 16 years, I knew I could impact kids and staff more than what I was doing as a PE teacher,” Mikulich said. “That drive to do better is what led me to administration.”

Mikulich went on to become principal at Lake Ridge Middle School for five years and later served as principal at Griffith Junior-Senior High School for two years before taking on his current role in Knox.

“As a teacher, you impact the kids that you have in your classes, but as an admin, you can impact an entire building. I was in charge of all the students and all the staff in that building as a principal. That was exciting, it was a great stepping stone for me, to go from PE teacher to principal and then going from principal to superintendent. Now I have the opportunity to lead an entire district in the right direction,” Mikulich said.

For Mikulich, leadership starts with creating a positive culture. He wants kids to come to school with a smile and be happy to be there. To Mikulich, when the kids come in happy in return, the staff come in every day excited to teach.

“When you build a positive culture, students will do more. They will go above and beyond to meet your expectations when you have a positive relationship with them, and you can motivate them. Then your test scores and academic scores go up, because you have a good relationship and a positive environment. I’ve now been able to take that philosophy and take it across a district, create that positive environment that kids and staff love coming to school every day, and where positive relationships are built,” Mikulich said.

Mikulich helps foster this culture by leading by example and taking a hands-on approach. One of his favorite ways to connect with students has always been simple: a morning fist bump.

“As a principal, every single morning, I would fist bump almost every single kid who I heard walking through the hallway. ‘How was your day?’ ‘What’s going on?’ ‘You know, have a great day.’ ‘Happy Monday,’ whatever it may be. Now as a superintendent, I get to do that same thing on a bigger level,” he said. “I get to hire people who can take that positive culture and be an extension of myself. “That culture can be contagious.”

The opportunity to be a superintendent initially brought him to Knox, but when he got there, he fell in love with both the school and the community. The school has great people, staff, and facilities.

“It’s a great place to be. My corporation is altogether. I park my car and I walk to all four of my schools. It is a growing town, and to be a part of that growth is awesome. There’s so much potential for greatness here,” he said.

Mikulich’s drive home to Lowell takes around 45 to 50 minutes, but he doesn’t mind.

“I love my drive. In the morning, it allows me to plan my day. It has me in preparation-mode on my way to school. On my way home, I make all my phone calls to my parents or my staff. It allows me to digest everything from the day, kind of calm everything down, so that when I get home, I can be a dad,” he said.

Mikulich has three sons, all in high school. While he works tirelessly to help his students reach their goals, he brings the same mentality to parenting. His sons have goals and ambitions. Mikulich focuses on how to make them a reality. While he likes to try to keep his superintendent hat off at home, his kids do help him to be a better leader. 

“I hear stories that they tell me from their school, and I think of how I would deal with that. Kids are kids, and if my three boys feel a certain way about an event or something that happens, I know other kids will feel the same way. I pick their brains. I lean on them to kind of tell me about the trends that are going on or things that are going on in social media so that I can be a better leader here at Knox,” he said.

Between their busy schedules, the family enjoys ice cream trips, sampling everything from Dairy Queen to mom-and-pop shops. Whether it’s building and repairing old arcade games in his basement or planning to get his doctorate, Mikulich wants his sons to know the sky is the limit if you prepare yourself. 

“Prior preparation prevents poor performance. No matter what you do in life, there’s always gonna be moments that you’re not prepared for. But the more you can prepare, the more you can learn, the more you can continue to climb the ladder. You can strive to do better every single day. Even when you’ve been in education for 26 years, we’re still trying to do more,” he said. 

At the end of the day, it’s all about growth for Mikulich. Both personally and in his line of work, he understands the long impact that a bit of positivity can yield. 

“Over the years, I have learned that treating people with respect and positivity is essential to building strong relationships and fostering growth. My hope is that, in every school corporation I’ve been a part of, I have made a lasting, positive impact on both students and staff, one that continues to influence their lives for years to come,” he said.