David St. Martin, a math teacher at Walpole High School for 25 years, has now received the role of Walpole’s athletic director. Last year, Walpole struggled to find a permanent athletic director, St. Martin decided that the circumstances were favorable for him to become the athletic director. He has been very involved in sports at WHS for 25 years coaching youth baseball, football and basketball. He coached varsity basketball at WHS for ten years.
“I love teaching and getting up in front of the class to teach kids,” St. Martin said. “Teaching is also a lot of work, lesson plan- ning and correcting. This is a different kind of busy.”
Although Athletic Director can be perceived as a job that focuses strictly on athletics, St. Martin adds a new perspective to the job and hopes to change the way student athletes feel on and off the field.
“I really want to bring together athletics and academics. Let the faculty know that they are student athletes and students come first, but also support the athletes and coaches to make sure they have a really good experience,” St. Martin said. “I think for me just supporting the student athletes is the biggest call for me.”
Something else important to St. Martin is making sure captains- team leaders for every sport are aware of their position and how to be a good leader. St. Martin decided to start the Captains Council, where he meets with every captain of each sport all together once a month to talk about being leaders in the school.
Additionally, St. Martin has introduced a student home pass allowing students to purchase a pass to every home game once instead of being charged at every home game. St. Martin views his change from math teacher to Athletic Director as positive switch for him.
“I loved being a math teacher and I love teaching but 25 years is a lot, so this is a good change of pace for me,” St. Martin said.
St. Martin’s attitude, goals and new perspective is sure to give all students, coaches and faculty a good experience at Walpole High School. St. Martin has brought a new light to the job and has been connecting very well with all student athletes. Having a teacher background, he has been able to create a safe place for all students.
