The teachers behind the superintendent

Grand Forks elementary teacher Colleen Zick delivered a newspaper to one of her students every Monday. Placing it on Brandon’s desk, Mrs. Zick would ask him to read the weekly article written about his uncle’s football game.

“She’d ask me questions like how many yards my uncle threw, or how many passes he completed. Later I realized she was checking my reading comprehension,” Brandon says.

Little did Mrs. Zick know that Brandon Lunak would have a successful teaching career and become the superintendent of a school district that serves around seven thousand students every year.

Moorhead Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brandon Lunak will speak at Minnesota State Moorhead’s graduate school commencement on May 7.

Classrooms of support

Lunak gained confidence and interest in being a teacher because of instructors like Mrs. Zick. He wanted to make a lasting change in the life of every student he could.

“In my elementary years, I had really good teachers who were great to me. They showed they cared and made me feel important,” he says.

Lunak’s elementary physical education teacher, Don Palmiscno, inspired his decision to study physical education in college. “He was so great that I and many other students wanted to be just like him,” he says.

At 15 years old, Lunak tried out for Grand Forks’ legion baseball team—a competitive 19-years-or-younger summer league—but quit because he didn’t think he was good enough. Years later, coach Scott Howe asked him why he quit that year.

“I told him why, and he said to me, ‘you were good enough, and don’t let anyone tell you that you weren’t. I was ready to keep you on the team.’ His encouragement meant so much to me,” Lunak says.

The impact of Lunak’s teachers didn’t stop after high school. Lunak pursued his doctorate in educational leadership at Moorhead, taking part in the first ever cohort for the degree.

“The instructors at MSUM are student-first and very understanding of your professional demands. They designed a program that is outstanding in terms of being able to handle everything that was included,” he says. “They were great mentors, great coaches, and your biggest cheerleaders. They do everything they can to help you cross the finish line.”

The program’s 8-week courses, taken one at a time asynchronously, provided Lunak the ability to pursue his advanced degree without sacrificing what really matters. “I felt like I could still work and be a husband and father,” he says.

Road to leadership

Lunak spent just shy of a decade as a physical education teacher in the Climax-Shelly School district in Minnesota. The superintendent, Walt Aanenson, encouraged him to consider administration, believing it would be a good path for him.

Lunak accepted a superintendent position in Emerado, situated right outside of the Grand Forks Air Force Base, and this position allowed Lunak to learn through doing.

“You had to learn everything because you were the principal, superintendent, possible bus driver, or lunch substitute,” he says. “As the lone administrator, I had a lot to learn, but that was the best place for me to do it because there wasn’t anyone else to depend on.”

Lunak’s years in Emerado prepared him for what lay ahead, leading the Waubun-Ogema-White Earth public schools for three years before moving to Moorhead. In 2014, he joined Moorhead Area Public Schools as the assistant superintendent of finance and operations, and became superintendent in 2018.

While Lunak has seen favorable outcomes at every stage of his career, he stays content in recognizing the multi-faceted effort it takes to succeed in leading a school district.

“I honestly don’t think I do anything alone. Without my family, school board, executive team, and the community of Moorhead rallying behind the school district, nothing gets done,” he says. “Being a part of a community like Moorhead that gets behind the school district is extremely fun and rewarding to see.”

Make meaning to make a difference

When Lunak takes the stage at Moorhead’s graduate school commencement, he hopes to inspire the class of 2026 to collaborate well in humility. “At no time should you ever be afraid to lean on somebody to help you cross the finish line. You should also never be afraid to help someone else,” he says.

Lunak will share about those who have made a significant impact in his life to inspire others to do the same.

“I want to honor my former teachers in front of the graduates to say ‘this is what they meant to me. Now go find somebody you can mean something to—and go make a difference.’”