Principal Gertsema was born and raised in a small town in southwestern Minnesota as the youngest of five boys. After graduating from Saint Cloud State University, he moved to the Austin, Texas area to begin his educational career, spending five years teaching 4th grade. While completing his master’s degree in educational administration at the University of Texas at Austin, he transitioned to teaching middle school math and science for three years. He then became a high school assistant principal, a role he held for seven years, before serving as principal of the same campus for an additional three years.
His wife, Erin, is also an educator, with experience teaching at the early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school levels. They have two adopted children, Emmy Lynne (7) and Jonathan (6), whom they have cared for since birth. Additionally, they served as a licensed foster home in Texas, caring for several other children. As a family, they are Texas Longhorn fans (Hook 'em!). They are excited to be a second-generation Kwajalein family, as Erin’s mother lived on Kwajalein in the late 1960s