BY DARRELL HALEN

A few days after Kori Becht began her new job as assistant principal at Windham Middle School two years ago, her boss, Steve Plocharczyk, gave her a tour of the building’s boiler room and showed her all the switches.

She remembered what he told her then: “You need to know it. You need to know everything about this school.”

Since then, Becht has learned a lot about what Plocharczyk does as principal and has worked closely with him in all areas of running the school.

It’s an education she will put to good use. On July 1, Becht will succeed Plocharczyk in the job.

Although much of the work of many middle school assistant principals focuses on student discipline, Becht’s experience has been much broader: learning about many responsibilities of managing the school.

“The way that Steve has mentored me has not been your typical middle school experience,” Becht said.

For example, they have worked closely on the school’s budget, an experience that allowed Becht to learn how to put a budget together. And they’ve shared other responsibilities.

“We’re really connected,” Becht said. “We touch base at least 10 times on a daily basis, kind of depending on what crops up, and we handle a lot of the operations of the school together.”

Her experience has been the same as that of two others who served as assistant principals.

“My philosophy was ... to teach them what I know about the entire job. Not to pigeon them into one area,” Plocharczyk said. “Because the reality is they almost always move on to become principals. My feeling is the better prepared they are to do all aspects of the job, the better the job they are going to do.”

Plocharczyk is retiring on June 29. He has served Windham for 34 years, and has been the middle school’s principal since 1986.
Retirement for Plocharczyk will mean less stress in his life and give him more time to do activities he enjoys: making furniture, playing golf, gardening, traveling and collecting stamps.

“I have mixed feelings about leaving,” he said. “Working in a district for 34 years, you build relationships with people. In many ways, they are your family away from home. When I walk out of here, the relationships will be different. I’ll have contact with them but not in the same way. It’s a dramatic change, but I’m looking forward to the next phase of my life.”

Becht, who is married and lives with her family in Auburn, said she’s excited about her new role and plans on continuing the initiatives the school is pursuing. But she also admits she’ll be sad to see Plocharczyk leave.

“I’ll miss Steve’s mentorship, working with Steve on a daily basis,” she said.

Plocharczyk acknowledges that there are some things he can’t teach Becht. There are things, he said, she will learn on the job as time goes on.

“When you’re in administration, you’re the boss, things come at you from nowhere that you don’t anticipate,” he said. “Much of it is situational. What you look for in an individual is someone who has good instincts, not a knee-jerk reaction. Kori has that.”

Becht graduated from Pinkerton Academy in 1995, and studied political science and education at Suffolk University.

Her association with WMS dates back prior to working there: She was a student at the school in the early 1990s.

Back then, she knew Plocharczyk as “Mr. P.”

And she was “little Kori Maroon,” Plocharczyk recalled with a smile.

After graduating from college, Becht came back to WMS. She spent five years teaching math, science and reading before being promoted to assistant principal in 2005.

Her teaching work included serving as head of the math department and working as the sixth-grade team leader. Her leadership earned her the respect of veteran teachers, Plocharczyk said.

“After teaching in the classroom for a few years – and I loved teaching – I really wanted to affect the whole school,” said Becht, who holds a master’s degree in education administration from Rivier College. “As a teacher, you certainly have influence over your 25 students. As an administrator, you look at the big picture and look at the school and affect a greater number of students.”