STURTEVANT - In Ray Henderson's world, Superman, Target stores and running a Catholic school all have something in common.

The Kenosha native took over this year as principal of St. Sebastian School, at 3030 95th St. here. It's his first administrative assignment - unless you count the five years he spent with Target in southern California before he went into education.

And to the 38-year-old former teacher, his retail experiences are still very relevant.

"I ran my classroom like I ran my Target store," he said. "Time management, motivation, they're very similar techniques. Unloading a truck is very similar to getting a classroom project done."

He added, "Another word for 'training' is 'teaching.' "

After his short but productive career at Target, Henderson earned his education degree at night while teaching as a long-term substitute in San Antonio.

He returned to Wisconsin and taught at St. Rita School, then for one year at Gilmore Middle School before joining St. Sebastian.

Having attended Catholic schools growing up, he said, "I knew I was going to be a principal in the Catholic schools somewhere. But I felt it was important to venture out into this community's public schools."

He called it an eye-opener, but said, "I missed using God as part of my lessons."

Henderson doesn't hide his religion. His office is decorated mainly with large, colorful posters of superheroes. On each poster, he's added a speech balloon with a religious message. Batman, for example, says, "It would be a dark night without Jesus."

Ice cream and uniforms

Lisa Hale, chairwoman of the St. Sebastian School Board, said she is thrilled that Henderson ended up at her children's school. Since Henderson started on July 1, she said, he's done a "phenomenal" job.

"The kids are responding to him so well," Hale said. "The parents are happy with him, and the whole atmosphere of the school has been wonderful this year."

Henderson, who has three children at the 120-student school, said one thing they like is how the school office looks; Henderson had the outer office decorated with an ice cream shop theme. On students' birthdays, they get to have ice cream with Henderson there.

Hale said Henderson has brought a fun little wrinkle to the school uniform policy as well: If students bring in a canned good for the food pantry on a Tuesday collection day, "They get to untuck their shirt."

Henderson also brought in some popular program additions, Hale said. By "tweaking" the budget, he added an art teacher and a Spanish teacher, each for one day a week. "I believe we have to stay competitive," he said.

Now, at all grade levels, students get art and Spanish instruction.

"These kids are thrilled about Spanish," Henderson said, and the art program is a "full-blown art program that follows the history of the world." Students do art based on the Ice Age in one unit, ancient Egypt in another, and so on.

"Each week it's a new era," Henderson said. "They're learning so much while they're creating."

He also created a computer lab in what used to be a kindergarten room with computers donated by The Prairie School, added before- and after-school programs, got all classrooms and hallways painted, and the gymnasium improved. Henderson hopes St. Sebastian can begin hosting sports tournaments.

A goal of his for next school year is to add a computer teacher for a day a week.

Another is to hold the cost of enrollment steady with this year's costs ($2,287 for a parishioner and $3,200 for a nonparishioner). He's optimistic that can be done by increasing the student population.

"We have a real opportunity here," Henderson said, "because we don't have any other Catholic schools around" - St. Lucy and St. Edward schools are the nearest. Moreover, Sturtevant's residential areas are growing, and other families switch from the public schools.

Henderson doesn't sound as though he'll switch schools anytime soon.

"This is the first time that I really feel at home" in education, he said. "This is my parish. It's important to me."