New administrators settle in (11/26/2008)

Chad Dodd got his first job in school administration in June when he was hired as the Jay County High School dean of students.

Two months later he held the longest tenure of any administrator in the building in their respective positions.

When former principal Jeremy Gulley left to take the same job at Huntington North High School in August, Phil Ford moved from his position as athletics director to fill the void. (See related story.)

The next domino to fall was long-time teacher and coach Ted Habegger moving into Ford's old seat. And in addition, the Jay School Board named Bev Arnold to the new position of assistant athletics director.

Habegger and Arnold both had their jobs on an interim basis, but the board removed that tag at Monday's meeting.

"I'm kind of growing into it a little bit," said Habegger, who like his fellow new administrators, said the job has been challenging. "I think I know a little more what is expected."

While Arnold is still teaching physical education, both Habegger and Dodd are no longer in the classroom. They said one of the biggest differences about administration as opposed to teaching is the aspect of having a routine.

"This job doesn't work like that," said Habegger. "There's goals out there, but something might happen at 9 o'clock ... and you have to deal with it.

"When you're teaching, there is a schedule. When the bell rings you've got somewhere to be and you've got something to do," added Dodd. "You plan your day and it pretty much goes according to plan. This particular job, you can plan to get a lot of things done, and then something occurs at 10 after eight and your day is shot."

Habegger said he's been amazed at how many different aspects there are to the AD's job, especially in a school with 20 athletic teams. And he's amazed how much time is spent on the phone and computer talking with other athletic directors and with officials.

Among his goals, Habegger, like the last several athletic directors before him, has been talking with other schools about a solution for the Olympic Athletic Conference. Being in a group of just four teams can make scheduling difficult, especially in football.

He said he's interested in continuing as the athletics director, but would also be happy to return to his previous role if the school board decides to go in that direction.

"I miss the part of having a daily relationship with kids in the classroom. I've always like that," said Habegger. "But this one here opens up other doors and looking at things from a different perspective, which I've never had to do ..."

For Arnold, the job seems to have come along at just the right time.

She had coached the girls swim team since the school opened and served as an assistant girls soccer coach for about a decade. About a month into her new job her husband, Steve, suffered a serious injury to his right leg that has required several surgeries with more to come.

"Obviously my whole life has been a little bit different this year because of Steve's accident," said Arnold, noting that she believes her move to become assistant athletic director was part of God's plan.

"There is absolutely no way I could have coached this year. With morning practices and afternoon practices, there is absolutely no way I could have done it."

The job for Arnold has mostly involved contest supervision. And she says the best part has been that it has allowed her to be involved with all of the JCHS athletes in competition rather than focusing on the sports she has coached for so long.

"This has really let me see more of our athletes in their venue," said Arnold. "I've been more in tune to all the athletes at all levels."

And like Habegger, she said she'd like to continue and possibly even expand upon her current role.

"It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time," she said. "In the ideal world I'd still like to do some coaching and work as the assistant athletic director."

Dodd graduated from Blackford High School, previously taught sixth grade geography at Hartford City Middle School and got his administrator's license less than a year ago. He said he was excited to come to JCHS, and even though the position of dean is not always the most popular, he has enjoyed his time thus far.

"It's amazing to me how positive people are here. They identify a problem, but they focus on fixing it," he said, adding that eight out of 10 phone calls to parents are met with a favorable response. "It makes my job easier, knowing that the parents support the decisions we make."

Dodd, who would like to be a principal some day, said one of his goals as dean is to not see the same student twice about the same offense.

One of the big ones he's looking to cut down on is the large number of tardy students. He said of the 2,500 referrals processed last year, about 1,000 involved students being tardy. And even then a student has to be tardy three times before being written up.

He's also tried to reduce the number of students leaving school early, which he said happens 10 to 15 times a day. In order to counteract that, he's streamlined the system for reporting such absences and ratcheted up the penalties.

"The first time we'll chalk it up to a bad choice," he said. "The second time it's a habit, so we need a more stiff consequence.

"I feel like we're doing a little bit better job. We've got a ways to go, but we're getting there."

Habegger and Dodd agreed that having Ford as principal has been an asset. He has been in both of their positions before and knows the challenges they work with on a daily basis.

"It's huge, because he understands," said Dodd, saying he was constantly visiting Ford for advice at the beginning of the year. "I appreciate his guidance."

"I'd hate to think if I had to walk in this door and do this job with no (backup)," said Habegger. "I think that would be very difficult ... I can't measure what (athletics secretary Joni Penrod) and Phil, either one of them, have meant."[[In-content Ad]]