Londonderry Living
Kerri Stanley
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LONDONDERRY — The leaves are already starting to fall and the school buses are back on the roads. Labor Day weekend is a time to honor the soldiers and veterans of our country and, for many, it is the time to celebrate summer, saying goodbye to it, and welcoming change in routines and seasons.
This has been a summer of laughter — and a summer of tears. It has been a summer of repeated traditions and a summer of changes, a summer of blessings and a summer of regrets.
Four of our six schools have seen big faculty changes. Andrew Corey moved his office from the middle school to the district office, where he is now the assistant superintendent. Richard Zacchilli left his post as principal at North Elementary School to fill the vacated position Corey left at the middle school. Chris Hunt, the beloved assistant principal at Matthew Thornton, transferred to South Elementary School.
The promotions and transfers of these individuals allowed us to welcome some new faces to the district. Alfred "Ace" Thompson is the new assistant principal at Matthew Thornton, and since Mary Coltin was promoted to principal at North, Jill Connors is now the assistant principal.
These new and familiar faces will frequent the halls of the schools, along with new faces of kindergartners to Moose Hill, sixth-graders to the middle school, and freshmen to the high school, and others who are new to town.
Who has left town, you may wonder? Of the 2010 high school graduates, Joe Creed and Tim Cava are now full-time students at the University of New Hampshire Durham. Rob Hanley is a freshman at Keene State, while Kristen Adamkowski was accepted into the nursing program at UMass Lowell. Lisa Curran's niece, Danielle Lussier, will be attending Emerson College in Boston. There are many, many more graduates who are settling into their freshmen years at colleges, and we wish them the best of luck, too.
So, while we will be blessed with a handful of hot summer days, the boys of fall are already out on the football fields, along with the other members of their soccer, lacrosse and cross-country teams.
Before we know it, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, but it's never too early to start giving thanks for what we have, even if what we have makes us cry instead of laugh. Life is good. It's even better in Londonderry.
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Kerri Stanley is a resident of Londonderry, involved with several local organizations. Her column appears monthly in the Derry News.
