Building North: A Conversation with Our Leaders

I love to laugh, work hard, and build strong relationships with the people around me. For 18 years, I served as a public high school math teacher with a passion for making learning fun and math attainable for every student. I wanted my classroom to be a place where students felt confident, challenged, and capable. Later, I spent four years teaching in a Christian high school, where I felt called not only to develop strong thinkers, but to share the most important truth of all: that Jesus loves them, and that He died and rose again for them. What good is it to create great students if they don’t know the foundation of hope their lives are built on?

Over the past four years, God has led me into administration, first as an elementary principal and now back where my heart always felt called — working with high school students. At Aug Prep, I’ve been given the opportunity to lead and serve while boldly sharing my faith. The greatest lesson I strive to model each day is that real leadership is about serving others, just as Jesus showed us — leading with humility, courage, and love.

What drew me to Aug Prep was the opportunity to serve in a school that loves Jesus and prepares students to become Christian leaders through strong Academics, Arts, Athletics, and Faith. And also to move back to Milwaukee, after spending the last few years in Minnesota. I went to college at Concordia University Wisconsin, after growing up in Houston and St. Louis, but really I’m a WI guy since I was born in Wausau. After graduating CUW, I lived in West Bend for 20 years, and love the Milwaukee area, and the people of our community.

What excites me most about starting a new high school is building the culture from the ground up. We don’t have any bad habits or traditions that might get in the way of what is best for students. The opportunity to choose a staff that loves Jesus and students, and then build a school community that can reflect this each and every day.

The other exciting part of all of this is knowing that the South campus just did this 9 years ago and did a great job. I’m surrounded by leaders and a team that knows what it takes to build a school, and they work closely with me to learn from the South campus, and support our mission together.

"Work hard, have fun, and be kind!"

- Keith Traska, North Campus High School Principal

A truly transformative high school experience is shaped by the people God places in a student’s life at just the right time. Classmates help sharpen character, faith, and leadership, and it’s true — we often become like those we spend the most time with. That’s why being surrounded by Christian peers, teachers, and staff who care deeply about students’ academic, social, and spiritual growth is so important.

At Aug Prep, we are building an incredible team that loves our students, believes in their potential, and is passionate about both their subjects and their faith. Our students spend much of their waking hours with us, and we are honored by the trust families place in us. High school is a pivotal season — a launching point into college, trades, athletics, the military, careers, and wherever the Lord calls them next — and we are committed to preparing them for that journey.

When a student graduates from our North campus, my prayer is that they can confidently say they were given every opportunity to grow into the person God created them to be. That they leave knowing, without a doubt, that they are deeply loved by God and that they were surrounded by teachers, coaches, and friends who poured the love of Jesus into their lives each day.

I hope they walk away with lifelong friendships, the confidence to chase their dreams, and the courage to push beyond what they once thought possible — carrying with them not only a strong education, but the joy, faith, and resilience that will guide them wherever the Lord leads next.

"The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor."

Proverbs 22:4-9

Explore Aug Prep North and see our completed campus for yourself!

Meet our staff and leaders, tour the space, and get a firsthand look at what’s ahead for our inaugural school year. Discover how our four pillars—faith, family, academics, and athletics/arts—shape students into confident, purpose-driven leaders.

April 30 | 4:00–6:30 PM
We can’t wait to welcome you!