By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

When Athletic Director Jim Scanlon decided it was time to make a change, his departure from Shepherd Hill left a huge vacancy to fill. Luckily it didn’t take the school committee too long to fill the position and former Norfolk Aggie AD Chris O’Donnell was named to be Scanlon’s predecessor.

“When Jim moved on, I was excited about the potential opportunity and I decided to go through the process as my goal was to be closer to home while at a great school with a strong tradition,” O’Donnell said. “I had been in contact with a couple of other schools at the same time, but I quickly felt that this is where I wanted to be. I discussed it with my family and was glad they offered me the job.

Instead of an hour-plus drive, it’s only 35 minutes from Gloucester.”

Prior to getting the position in the Dudley-Charlton school system O’Donnell had been working at the Norfolk County Agricultural High School in Walpole for the past two years as PE teacher/Athletic Director and was looking to find a job closer to home in regard to a full-time administrative job at the athletic level.

Upon taking part in the interviewing process O’Donnell immediately felt a connection with everyone in the room and although the job was a little bit further than one of the other positions he was applying for, this was where he wanted to be amongst the school’s history, athletically as well as academically.

“It felt like home right away. Everyone here was doing this for all the right reasons – the community and the kids; they had a genuine understanding,” he

said. “Even the kids that I met while walking on the campus showed there was a

lot of respect here and this was a great community all around.”

The new AD noted that the Dudley-Charlton administration, staff, and coaches were all very flexible as well as accommodating and they too want to make sure the kids are not just athletically prepared but academically as well; thus, both were on the same page and made this such a great fit for him.

 “I’m very thankful for this opportunity and cannot thank the entire school  committee, interview committee, the administration, and community enough  for their support”.

Before he became the AD at Norfolk Aggie, he was working as a player agent for professional hockey players and coaching at Ponaganset High School in N. Scituate, Rhode Island where he was an assistant coach for the football and hockey teams.

It was here that his 8th grade history teacher Mike Calenda once told him ‘treat people the way you want to be treated’ and that sentiment has not only stuck with O’Donnell but is how he now lives his life.

While he truly enjoyed his time at Norfolk Aggie he knew that it was time to move on. Not only were the administration, coaches and colleagues inspirational to his growth while there, but he also made note that the maintenance workers, bus drivers, support staff, administrative assistants, and of course the student body was also important and is very thankful to all of them during his journey.

“My roots at Ponaganset found that it was the coaches who really drove me to become an Athletic Director,” he said. “The dedication and passion that they provided was what pushed me. It’s not always about the wins and losses, but how you can make an impact on student-athletes lives.”

Now as he takes over as the Athletic Director there are a few things that O’Donnell wants to accomplish while here. He wants to improve upon the student participation numbers for all teams and although Scanlon left him with a very good foundation he believes that they can increase numbers even further, not just on the high school level, but at the middle school as well.

In addition to getting those numbers up he would also like to get the alumni more involved with different events throughout the year. During his stay at Ponaganset he felt the relationship with the alumni was truly important and he wants to help it grow while at Dudley-Charlton.

Although Scanlon was the AD moving out to leave the vacant position, O’Donell said he was a mutual friend and one he cannot thank enough.