Mark Thomas, longtime assistant principal at Beverly High School, is getting fired up to lead Panther Nation as principal during the 2023-24 school year. Panther News spoke with Mr. Thomas about his vision for the future of BHS. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Could you tell us a little bit about where you grew up?

Yes, I grew up south of Boston in Walpole, which is kind of down towards Rhode Island a little bit, right next to Foxborough where the Pats play. I went to Walpole High School.

What was your high school experience like?

I have really great memories of my high school. I played a lot of sports and was part of a lot of clubs there. It was a nice, small community feel and I have a lot of fond memories of growing up there. 

Is that part of the reason you went back to high school? Because you liked your high school environment?

Probably the bigger impact on me was pretty much everyone in my family is involved in education in some way. For me, my background is in social work. I did a lot of counseling and therapy work [with young adults] before I was into schools.  I wanted to really make an impact with students every day. Seeing them for an hour at a time, once a week, wasn’t as effective as being in a school every day walking the halls and being part of a community. So that was really the driving force for me to be in Beverly High School. 

Can you tell us a little bit about which roles you’ve played here at BHS? Since you got to the area?

I started here in 2003, as an adjustment counselor, transitioning to an assistant principal in 2016. I’ve been in that role ever since. Along the way, I coached football for pretty much the whole time. I started the wrestling program here and coached them for about a dozen years. I coached baseball and softball in the spring. I ran some student groups like World of Difference. 

As a kid, did you ever imagine that you’d be a high school principal?

Interestingly enough, probably even five years ago, I don’t know if I would have said that. As an adjustment counselor here, I was very content. As I worked closely within the system, opportunities arose, I said, “Well, I think I could do that.  I’ve had enough exposure to that.  And I think I could make a good impact doing that. I think there’s some things I’d like to see change for the better, along with continuing some things we’ve done here.” So I took the step to become an assistant principal, and a very similar path [for] the principalship. 

For those who wish to know, could you explain what exactly you do as an assistant principal, and how that is going to be different from what a principal does? 

As a principal, you’re really looking at the larger picture where you want the school as a whole to go. What’s the vision? What do we really want our students’ experience to be like? As an assistant principal,  you carry out pieces of that.

What inspired you to throw your hat into the ring to be the principal at Beverly High School?

First of all, the opportunity was there. And this is a place I want to be and a place I want to work. I’ve chosen to live in Beverly. My kids are in Beverly schools. That’s something special. They might think differently by the time they get to school, but it’s going to be a special thing as they get older and come through high school and I get to share that experience with them.

Lately, there’s been a lot of public interest and scrutiny about what is happening and being taught at K-12 schools. What’s it like being involved in school administration at this moment in history?

It’s a challenge, it’s definitely a challenging time.

 It always boils down to working with our students. I think it’s as complicated as it’s ever been to be a young adult. There’s even a lot more to navigate. There’s so many influences out there in really, students are pushed and pulled in all different directions.

The thing we always try to come back to as an administrative team is giving students the respect of meeting them where they’re at, trying to hear what they’re coming to the table with, what their concerns are, and whether those are concerns that we can do anything about or not. It’s okay to have differing opinions or not to be able to please everybody, but it’s a time where people feel the way they feel, and they feel strongly about that. It has the potential to create a lot of friction.

And instead of a school being a pressure cooker, which it definitely can be, I’d like to kind of turn it around and say, Hey, we’re all in this together, but how can we build a community of trust with good, strong relationships. If a student is having an issue, or a disagreement about where we’re moving as a school, they can voice that and feel like there’s not going to be a problem about that, that we can have a respectful conversation about that.

What do you feel are some of the strengths that Beverly high has?

There are so many examples of successful programs, like our DECA program, athletics, fine arts, drama, and the musicals and all of our performances, it never ceases to amaze me what the talents of our students are and how they can present themselves in such a great way. There is something for everybody at Beverly High School.  Sometimes it takes people a little bit of time to find their way and find exactly what they’re into.  There’s enough here where people can find their group of people, their interests, a reason to come to school and be excited about coming to school. So I really enjoy that part of it, of seeing people find their way. 

Our faculty is just so caring of their students and caring of each other. And sometimes that doesn’t get seen as much as you’d want it to. But just seeing how the faculty embraces a new teacher and really gets them up and running and getting going in their first year at Beverly High School, or, you know, when a student asks for help, what they do, they drop what they’re doing to really support that student. So those are the big things, you know, in my mind.

Are you able to preview any changes that students can look forward to next year?

You know, there’s some things that I’d like to kind of put my own fingerprints on, I think it’s important for people to know that there’s going to be more similarities in a first year than not. But I think you’ll see some differences that happen here.  I’m not going to tip my hand just yet. But, there’s definitely some things that are starting to kind of work on to gain momentum as Miss Taylor transitions out, and I’m transitioning in. So it’s been a great thing, because I don’t have to wait till July 1, to get some of that motion. 

Has it been a smooth transition? 

So far, it’s been going great. Miss Taylor, and I have a great working relationship. We’ve worked side by side for twenty years, my entire career here. We have the utmost respect for each other professionally. I’m in a unique position where I can do some of that preparing while I’m here in the building. I’m fortunate in that way.

Recently, there’s been a lot of focus on the mental health of Gen Z. What roles can schools play in addressing this problem?

The district has been really great about adding support where needed, and that’s definitely been an identified need. We’re up to nine mental health counselors within the high school, and I’m not even sure all our students know that. It’s something that, until you need it, you might not be aware that it’s even a support that’s offered here. We even have a counselor that helps students that are having difficulty getting in the building, like he’ll go right out to a house to a family and work with that family and that student for whatever they need. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done here in Beverly around mental health. It’s a piece of who students are and we need to support them. 

What’s the best way for students to reach you if they wish to, like communicate with you about like, or the administration about, like, ideas or events in ways to enrich the school community? 

I always say, knock on my door, come see me, shoot me an email, you know.  I always say, reach out, reach out, reach out. That’s something we always welcome for sure.

What do you think we can do as a community, like students, teachers, everybody involved to help foster a positive school culture at BHS?

I’ve always thought we have a pretty healthy culture here as a school. I think everywhere, the last couple of years has kind of shaken that a little bit. I hear a lot from students, well, I’ll give respect when I get respect. And I’ve always tried to operate the other way. That if you give respect first, the worst that’s going to happen is that you are where you first started. If you come in and put your best foot forward with your interaction with people, you’re going to have a lot more room to have positive relationships and a positive  culture.

If you could give one piece of advice to students at BHS, what would it be?

I’d give a couple. Every day when you come in, put your best foot forward. For me, that means giving your best effort at what you’re doing. 

And be respectful to those around you.  If you can go home in the afternoon, and say, I did the best I could today, you’re going to be okay. 

And get involved. there’s a lot of other layers of this that make this such a great place. And I never want to see anyone shortchanging themselves on the experience they could have here. 

Aside from Beverly, what was the most interesting place you’ve ever been to?

Great question. So I was fortunate with my parents being in education, and so we did a lot of long summer road trips. And so, one thing my father and I got into over the course of growing up, and actually even into my 20s, and we would plan our vacation to go to a different major league baseball park around the country.

So, a big baseball family?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, big sports family. Definitely, the Red Sox are our team for sure. And it’s something that just kind of  started off as like, “Oh, we were on a vacation here. Let’s, let’s check out this ballpark.” And then we started going to a few more. And so there was one summer my father and I went out to the Midwest, which we hadn’t hit like those out there, and so we got to go to Minnesota, Chicago, Milwaukee and that was a great trip. That was just a cool area of the country I’ve never been to. 

And then the other place I have some fond memories of is Ireland. It was the only time I’ve ever been to Europe. And so it’s something you know, I look forward to at some point in my life getting over there more. It was awesome. I’m into the history of that part of Europe but it’s also just a different way of life, a different country and really interesting stuff. 

What’s your favorite food?

I’d have to say pizza. That’s an easy one. I will say, and people make fun of me, I bring the same lunch every day. So I don’t eat here very often. But I know I am a pizza connoisseur. I like pizza for sure. 

What would you say it’s the best place in Beverly?

A new one that people have really got to check out is Sideways Sally’s. It’s in the back of the new Bonefish Harry’s. It’s the style that is called South Shore bar pizza. It’s something that you don’t see very often up this way. But I like it all. I’m not too picky with my pizza. Just choose pizza. 

What’s that? Just cheese pizza? 

I like anything that ends in pizza.

So anything at all that you can tell us about next year?

One thing we’ve explored this year is potentially looking at a new schedule, and that would not actually be for next year.  And there’s nothing set in stone but just something we’re taking a good hard look at. We’re taking some student feedback and some teacher feedback and really trying to make sure we get it right.