Mark Willis often drives his motorcycle through the roads of Weare.

Starting this summer, he’ll be stopping a little more often.

Willis, currently the principal of Manchester Southside Middle School, will be taking over as Weare Middle School principal beginning this summer, filling the seat formerly occupied by David Pabst.

An avid motorcyclist, Willis said he had a little help when deciding to apply for the vacated principal’s position.

“My wife told me I needed to apply for it, and she told me in the last week of the posting that I should,” said Willis. “It was just looking at the community that made it appealing. It looked interesting to me because I grew up in a small community.”

Willis began teaching in 1980 in West Virginia, and after a short time there he moved to Florida, taking a year away from teaching. Willis went from the classroom to the construction yard, but after the year he returned to teaching in 1984. After a stop as a teacher and assistant principal back in West Virginia, Willis found his way to Southside in 2004.

Although Willis said he is excited to take over in Weare, he said it will be difficult leaving the job he’s held for four years.

“There are always mixed emotions. There’s a big difference between an administrator and a teacher in a classroom.

As an administrator, you really have to sit back and look if you left an impact,” said Willis. Willis said he thinks his background will help him in his new school.

“I think it’s an advantage that I’ve been in different states and different environments and can take things I’ve pooled together and improve the environment in the school,” he said.

Heading into his first year, Willis doesn’t have any definite plans for his new district. “If I take my car to a mechanic and they start working without looking, you don’t know if they’ll improve the performance of it,” Willis said. “I believe it’s the same thing in education. You have to go in and take a look. You may not try to change things, just improve things.”

After accepting the job, Willis spent a day with the Weare Middle School staff, where the school’s teachers asked him questions mainly geared toward improving student performance.

“I was very impressed with the staff when I spent a day at the school. The questions I got from the teachers were very student- centered. They were thinking about what ideas I might have to help the kids,” said Willis. “(The learning curve) is getting quicker for me. There’s a lot you pick up in the summertime before the kids come in the door that first year.”