On January 29 Orono School District announced that social studies teacher Jeffery Aman would take the position of Interim Associate Principal at the high school. Aman will be taking the place of Caryn Boyd who will be fully retired by the end of April.

“I’m really excited I’ve been here for 13 years and I’ve loved teaching here, but I thought about taking on an admin role for a few years now and I did a principal licensure program started back in 2018. So, it had been on my mind, and then this opportunity opened up and you know it’s, on the one hand, it’s a COVID year so it’s crazy but then again, everything’s kind of crazy right now so why not try something new,” Aman said.

According to Learn.org, a free resource for students and career seekers looking for information about different careers, associate principals usually do general administrative tasks and discipline. The general administrative tasks range from planning different events and activities to helping staff members when they need it.

“The associate principal does whatever Ms.Boyd did so it’ll be discipline and attendance but also some teacher coaching and supervision being present, listening to students. I’ve been really involved in student voice the past three years and so a lot of that has been about listening to students in problem-solving ways to make Orono a better place.. I’ll be involved in planning graduation too,” Aman said.

Many students will be sad to see Aman leave the classroom, but they will be glad to hear that Aman will gradually be transitioning into the new role. Aman also won’t leave the classroom until a long term substitute teacher has been found to teach his classes.

“I love schools I love education. I’ve loved being a classroom teacher and I thought, a long time ago about becoming a principal but I just loved teaching too much, you put in all that work in the first few years of teaching, and finally, my courses where I wanted them to be and I was enjoying the dynamic of working directly with students. But I increasingly became interested in the bigger systems and how classrooms work together and how do we make schools better and how do we make learning better and especially right now with COVID. I’ve heard some educational theorists have called this the great educational experiment and we’re trying all kinds of new things, it’s a very exciting time for us to rethink how we do school, I am excited to be a part of that,” Aman said.