Thursday, August 30, 2007

Hamon takes reins at Jefferson West Middle School

by Clarke Davis

Veteran math teacher and Valley Falls native John Hamon is now the principal at Jefferson West Middle School in Meriden.

Hamon oversees a staff of 22 in a building with 216 students in grades six through eight. For the past six years, he was a McLouth principal over grades six through 12.

He’s a 1987 graduate of Valley Falls High School and holds a master’s degree from Kansas State University. He has district level certification in adminstration from Pittsburg State.

He taught high school math at Marysville two years and Washburn Rural for five years. He was a principal at Uniontown for two years prior to going to McLouth.

Hamon follows Bill Scott, who came to the school in the fall of 2000. Scott had implemented a team-teaching concept in the middle school that Hamon said has proven to be quite effective in teaching children.

“I knew when I applied for this job what Scott had done,” he said. “The staff has done a great job in this school.”

The staff consists of 18 full-time teachers and four who are shared with the high school. The staff has three new teachers this year, following two retirements and one having left for an administrative job in another district.

Under the “teaming” concept, teachers are afforded time each day for planning stategies, professional development, trouble shooting, etc.

The principal and his wife, Lisa, have three children, Matthew, almost 11, Taylor, 8, and Jacob, 6. Lisa has a degree in psychology from Washburn University and has done social work for the state. She is presently a homemaker.

Hamon grew up on a farm — the Hamon Seed Farms — and still comes home to help put up hay or do odd jobs on weekends or during the summer.

“I help out some but they don’t rely on it,” he said.

He is the son of Charles and Mary Jo Hamon and the grandson of John and Bertha Hamon, all of Valley Falls.

The children attend Jefferson West schools and the family plans to move to the district from the McLouth area sometime soon.