Principal retires after decades in Manchester
After 40 years of service in the Manchester School District, Arthur Adamakos is retiring and will officially end his tenure as the principal of Manchester Memorial High School on June 30. Adamakos discussed the highlights of his career in education and what it’s like to be retiring during a pandemic.
Tell us about your career in education.
I was born and brought up in Nashua. I went to Boston University, and then to Rivier University for my master’s degree. … I started out as a substitute teacher in Nashua, just for a few months. Then, when I got certified, I was offered a position at Hillside [Middle School] in 1979. After a year and a half there, I got transferred to [Manchester] Memorial [High School], and I was a teacher there for six and a half years, from 1981 to 1988. Then, I became an assistant principal at [Manchester High School] West, and I was there for six and a half years. In 1994, I left West to be the principal at Hillside for a year and a half. In 1995, I came to Memorial, where I’ve been ever since, except for a two-year span when, in 2000, I was the assistant superintendent of schools for secondary ed in Manchester. … Then, I came back [to Memorial], where I’ve been for the last 18 years as a principal. So, [in total] I’ve been the principal at Memorial for 23 years. That’s a long time.
What was your biggest challenge this year as a high school principal?
This year, obviously, Covid-19 and remote learning has been a challenge. We had no prior training when all of this happened on March 16. We don’t train to become online teachers in our profession. We prefer to have our students in our classrooms, work with our students one-on-one and have positive day-to-day interactions with them. You can’t do that remotely.
How does it feel to be retiring after such an unconventional end to the school year?
I always get excited as the year progresses, because the nicest part of the year is all the ceremonies at the end of the year celebrating the students’ achievements. Those will not be taking place this year because of social distancing. It’s unfortunate for me that I’m going to miss out on that. … It’s certainly not the way I intended to go out of my career, but the priority is that the kids stay safe and healthy.
What will you miss most?
I’ll miss the people I work with. Kids come and go; they’re here for four years, and then they move along, but a lot of our faculty have been here for 10, 20, 30 years, so we’ve been together as a group for quite a while. I’ll miss seeing them on a regular basis.
How would you like to be remembered as a high school principal?
I want to be remembered as a firm but fair person who listened to the kids and sided with them more often than they thought, and made sure they had the best experience they could possibly have while they were in high school.
What have your students taught you over the years?
They’ve taught me to be young — to feel young, to stay current, to know pop culture. They’ve taught me that it’s important to constantly be changing my approach to things. Some people in my position don’t change a darn thing in the 30-odd years of their administration. The way I operate now is certainly not the way I did when I first started, back in the ’80s. My approach is much different. The way I look at things is much different, and the kids taught me that. They’ve taught me how to evolve.
Do you have any parting words for your students?
Education is a lifelong experience. It doesn’t end with high school. I’ve been out of college for 42 years now, and I’m still learning new things each and every day. I hope that [the students] never stop using their minds to learn new things, even as they get older.
What will you do now?
This September will be the first time in 50 years — from the time I entered first grade in 1962, all the way until now — that I won’t be going back to school and entering a school building every day. I’m kind of on pins and needles about that. I’m an adjunct faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University — I teach in the Education Leadership graduate program — so I’ll still be teaching, but it won’t be the same world that I’m in now. It will be nice to be able to relax and take some time off, though. I’ve been working nonstop for a long time. … I’m an avid golfer, but I’ve had to take it easy the last few years. I’m getting a shoulder replacement surgery next month, so hopefully next year I’ll be able to start playing again. That’s something I’m really looking forward to. Anything else that comes my way? I can’t predict that, so I’ll just take it as it comes.