Sometimes a change in scenery can alter an entire perspective.
After two years serving as a TOSA with Millersburg Elementary Middle School, Adam Tomlinson is embracing the opportunity to change his perspective a tad. With the decision by former FJSHS assistant principal Sarah Flagg to return closer to her home and, with it, taking an administrative role at Pierre Moran Middle School in Elkhart, Tomlinson had his window of opportunity.
Tomlinson was approved by the Fairfield Community Schools school board as the new assistant principal for the Jr/Sr high school, a step up in speed and direction.
“The TOSA experience prepared me for the assistant principal role,” Tomlinson said. “It’s not quite the same but there are a lot of similarities in the day-to-day. You work directly with the principal, working with the kids and their needs, and some of the disciplinary issues if they need to be addressed. And make sure we are in the right place with testing, specifically with WIDA.”
Tomlinson is looking forward to his new post in his first year as an assistant principal, which does have some refining to do as he meshes with principal Jason Grasty, assistant principal Nick Jones and the school administration.
“That’s one of the fun things with this job, you won’t have two days be the same,” Tomlinson said. “I’m excited by the change in environment. I enjoy moving, getting things done and keeping it going.”
Before Tomlinson joined the education field, he literally worked in the fields as a construction worker along with having real-world farming experience. Tomlinson joked that if there was ever a career path that would lend to dealing with kids on the regular, it was working with farmers.
“We worked for a lot of farmers, and if you work with farmers, you know things change constantly,” Tomlinson said with a wry grin. “Being able to change and go with the flow, I feel like that’s something I’ve always been able to do.”
Added Tomlinson about becoming a face of a school, both during the day and also in the evenings, “I’m excited to get into the component of being around more of the activities we have here. I enjoy sports, have always been thrilled with competition. I was an official for a long time. I just have to figure out the balance with time here as opposed to being at home with the kids. That will be an adjustment. But I’m kind of looking forward to seeing some of my old officiating buddies. It’s a perk of the job.”