Lifetouch

The principal’s office isn’t somewhere that students typically look forward to entering at any school. Many just reading that first line will get flashbacks to lectures from someone who barely knows them in a cold, corporate environment. The environment inside the office of Kai Freeman, the new principal for the 2025-2026 school year, however, displays a quote from the late Kobe Bryant labeled “Mamba Mentality,”:

“It’s a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were the day before.”

This perfectly describes Freeman’s philosophy as he takes over the position of principal from life-long teammate and friend Joe O’Brien.

Freeman accepted the job in early July as the head of administration at Plainfield East while O’Brein enters a new chapter as Director of Administration and Personnel for High School at the District 202 Office.

This isn’t the first time Freeman has walked through the doors of Plainfield East, he served as a Dean and Assistant Principal at East from 2013 to 2018 before becoming the principal of Drauden Point Middle School in 2018.

“Having an opportunity to go down to the middle school level, learn that piece, it made me in a better position now to come back to the high school and be at this position as the principal,” said Freeman.

Since his departure in 2018, Freeman has gained a new perspective on what incoming ninth graders are looking for as they take on a whole new world in high school.

As he returns, Freeman is careful to make any major changes right off the bat. Since July, he’s taken a moment to learn all about the complex happenings at PEHS, going as far to conduct 10-minute interviews with over 200 staff members.

“I don’t want to say a disservice, but I would caution anyone that comes into a situation and immediately just starts making changes,” said Freeman. “I’ve got to learn what’s going on here. I’ve got to see what’s working and what maybe we need to reflect upon.”

Gaining information on the school’s inner workings and taking into account his experience at Drauden goes along with Freeman’s theme for the year: Perspective. While O’Brien doesn’t see much difference in their ideologies, he does acknowledge the different perspectives they bring to the table.

“With Mr. Freeman, you’re going to get what you see. He’s going to be a principal that’s visible. He’s going to be somebody who’s going to build relationships with kids. He’s going to build positive relationships with his staff,” said O’Brien.

The former-principal also explained his confidence in Freeman as a former Bengal himself.

“It’s not somebody who’s new coming in from another district or even from another school in our district. He’s been in it. He knows what we’re all about. He knows about the community and the culture establishment that we’ve had,” said O’Brien.

O’Brien and Freeman’s ties go beyond just their time at East, they played baseball together during their time at Joliet Catholic. There, Freeman would master his skills pitching to O’Brien who resided behind the plate as catcher. They won a state championship together, and Freeman would later play five seasons of minor league baseball affiliated with the Chicago White Sox.

“I was a dog. And again, that was just that competitiveness that I just did not want to lose,” said Freeman.

He’s taken his experience from baseball and successfully translated the skills into his professional career.

“You can’t just get out of bed and just show up and get on the court or get on the mound and think it’s going to work. You’ve got to be prepared. You’ve got to put in the work,” said Freeman. “I can’t just show up here and expect this building to go. You have to put in work, be prepared so that you are going to be in the best position to make the decisions you need to make.”

It’s been many years since a new face has taken the helm of Plainfield East, but O’Brien has assured the student body that their new principal will be a perfect fit. Freeman has continued to roam the halls of Plainfield and fulfill his word to make connections all across the school.

“I want to be involved. I want to be in the hallways. I want to be in classrooms. And again, not as an authoritative figure. But more as just, I want to be a part of the community,” said Freeman.