Hayfield graduate named next high school principal

Hayfield High School will have a new principal, following several years of having an interim principal.
Following Grant Klennert’s resignation in 2023, the district hired Jim Hecimovich, who came out of retirement.
Hecimovich previously served as a high school principal and superintendent at Kingsland. He has also served as principal for Kasson-Mantorville and Hayfield during his career.
Replacing Hecimovich will be Samantha Thurman, the district’s current special education coordinator, who is in the process of finishing her principal license.
Thurman graduated from Hayfield in 2007, earning eight varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and golf during her time as a Viking. After high school, she played four years of basketball at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she earned a double major in elementary education and special education, as well as a minor in coaching.
According to a column written in 2024 by Activities Director Chris Pack, after graduating from Luther in 2011, Thurman worked and traveled for Ritchie Brothers while also doing some recruiting for the Riverland College women’s basketball team in Austin.
She then moved back to Hayfield and was hired as a special education teacher in 2014, teaching in the district for two school years. She also coached two years of junior high volleyball during her first stint in Hayfield.
She then got a teaching job in Cannon Falls, where she worked for six years. While at Cannon Falls, Thurman was the head girl’s basketball coach for four years, as well as being an assistant coach in volleyball for five years and track for two years.
In the fall of 2022, she returned to Hayfield, accepting the Special Education Coordinator position.
“Sam is going to make a great high school principal and we are very excited about getting some consistency back in this position,” Superintendent Gregg Slaathaug said.
Thurman will begin her new role on July 1.