Davie is in his seventh year as a guidance counselor at the high school and has been serving as the girls’ golf and softball coach as well as boys’ basketball coach for the past year. Prior to coming to Talawanda, he had worked in Pennsylvania, coaching and serving as high school assistant principal and principal as well as coaching a variety of sports.
“I have enjoyed my stints as counselor, administrator and coach up to and including my present post. I look ahead to having a bigger role in the lives of students,” Davie said. “It was not something I had on my radar. I would not have taken on boys’ basketball coach, had I known. At the end of the day, I want what’s best for the kids and the community. This position will allow me to have a positive impact.”
He has resigned his golf and basketball positions and is preparing for his final season as softball coach this spring. That resignation will come soon.
The change will not require too much of a move as he crosses the hallway from the counseling area to the administrative offices and he recognizes it is a move not many new principals can claim.
“It is a unique transition in the building. I will be involved in some decision-making for next year. It is a positive, for sure,” he said, noting that new principals often come from other districts and schools.
“There are a number of relationship cultures — students, parents, staff — and a lot of the next school year (planning) will be getting done. I will be involved in the decision making for the 22-23 school year.”
York was also in a unique situation a decade ago when he stepped into the principal’s office. The school was opening for the first time. He was coming from another district, but had grown up here and as a Talawanda graduate was at least familiar with the district.
“I was really honored and privileged to come back here and finish up my career. It was an honor to open up this new building. (Then superintendent) Kelly Spivey helped me. It’s been a really wonderful experience. I had no thought when I came that I would be here ten years. It has been the most rewarding ten years of my career.”
His retirement after the end of this school year will mark the end of 43 years in education at several levels but he noted his ten years as Talawanda principal marks nearly a quarter of that career.
The impetus for his retirement decision came with two separate moments in his life, York said.
The first came when he was thinking about his grandchildren, three by his daughter and a fourth coming in April for his son.
“We will have four grandkids. I came to a moment in my life when I was coming in to work listening to a podcast ‘Dream Big.’ He said he was excited about his first grandchild, and I thought we will have a fourth,” York said. “We were going through boxes of pictures of my mother’s, old pictures, and there were people I only knew through pictures. I didn’t want my grandkids to only know me as Poppy Tom. I want them to know me as a person.”
Each year at graduation, York finds some general trait to describe that year’s class that he will remember them for. He describes it as the personality for that class of students and his last as principal will be no different.
“This group of young people stands out because they have rebounded from so many obstacles. Their resiliency is amazing to me. They have had to experience school and home (learning) at the same time. They were sent home and came back and then were sent home again and came back again. They’re great young people. I expect a lot from them,” York said.
Davie was described in the school district’s press release announcing his appointment as principal as “known for his effective communication skills, attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture, and above all, a concern for the betterment of all aspects for the lives of the students of Talawanda High School.”
The press release concluded, “He is particularly excited to continue a long-standing tradition of educational excellence at the classroom level, focusing his efforts on both instructional and organizational leadership.”
In an interview last week, he praised the school’s staff calling them “stellar people” and said everyone works together to offer the best educational environment they can.
“I’m not coming in with an agenda. We do some really great things in this building. Tom York has done great things here for ten years,” Davie said. “My responsibility will be to build on the great things he has done.”
Another advantage he sees for himself coming into the position is the visibility his counseling and coaching have given him with students and parents.
“Obviously, I’m excited to move into that role. I look forward to work in the community and visibility at times. Coaching and counseling have taken me in front of people. I have fairly high visibility already and I’m excited about that,” he said.
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