It’s a tradition at Staples High School for senior girls to start the year by painting their cars.
They try to include their graduating year, along with slogans. The results range from funny to meh, proud to X-rated.
But this year saw something new: An homage to a former principal.
John Dodig retired last June. But — as this photo sent to “06880” by Lily Bloomingdale shows — he is certainly not forgotten.
A very classy move indeed!
Posted in People, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged John Dodig, Lily Bloomingdale, Staples High School Class of 2016
There is only one Derek Jeter.
And there is only one John Dodig.
Inspired by the fantastic Jeter “Re2pect” video honoring the Yankee great on his retirement — with everyone from little kids, cops and Rudy Giuliani to Jay-Z, Spike Lee and even Red Sox fans tipping their cap to the superstar — Staples seniors Zoe Brown and Taylor Harrington set out to give their retiring principal his due.
The result is a remarkable tribute to the high school’s one-of-a-kind leader.
If you know Dodig, and understand all he has meant during his 11 years as principal, you’ll look at this video, smile — and shed a tear.
If you don’t know Dodig, watch anyway. You’ll see the impact he’s had on everyone — administrators, teachers, athletes, actors, musicians, artists, kids who might have fallen through the cracks, secretaries, cafeteria workers, custodians, security guards — and you’ll wish you’d known him.
Zoe and Taylor clearly got the most out of their 4 years in Dodig’s Staples. And turning Jeter’s “Re2pect” into Dodig’s “ReSpect” is pure genius.
(If your browser does not take you directly to YouTube, click here.)
Posted in Education, People, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged Derek Jeter, John Dodig, Taylor Harrington, Zoe Brown
Staples celebrated its 128th graduation in fine fashion this afternoon. The weather was (thankfully) cool; the speeches were brief but meaningful — and most importantly, the day was about the 460 graduates. This great class got the sendoff they deserve!
The “Congratulations Class of 2015” sign refers to principal John Dodig too. After 47 years in education, he retires this month. He called himself a proud member of ’15.
Plenty of reading material for early arrivals: the graduation program, and the year-end issue of Inklings.
Hip surgery just a few days ago did not keep Jake Atlas away.
Friends to the end: Sarah Sawyer, Zoe Brown, Sarah Herbsman and Sophia Hampton.
A day after soloing with the choir at baccalaureate, Jack Bowman graduates.
Jim Farnen is the very proud assistant principal for the Class of 2015.
Shift supervisor Tom Cataudo and maintenance head Horace Lewis greet staff and students during the processional.
Valedictorian Everett Sussman earned praise for his insightful — and quick — speech.
Her cap indicates the next stop for Jacqueline Chappo: Boston University.
Good friends Scott Pecoriello and Patrick Beusse are ready to receive their diplomas.
The traditional cap-tossing, in slow motion.
Seniors signed a poster in the courtyard, showing the many places they’ll go next.
Nicole DeBlasi — the 2015 yearbook editor — is a proud graduate…
…and so is wrestler Alexander Baumann.
Eniola “Timmy” Kolade celebrates with family members.
Congratulations, Kristen and Pam Onorato — and everyone else in the Class of 2015!
Meanwhile, here’s a video shown at last night’s baccalaureate ceremony. Directed by Ken Asada, it features many members of Staples’ Class of ’15 — with a couple of cameos by retiring (but not in the active-participant sense of the word) principal John Dodig:
(Click here if your browser does not take you directly to YouTube.)
Posted in Education, Staples HS, Teenagers
Among the many speeches extolling retiring principal John Dodig at a PTA ceremony this morning at Staples, some of the best came from students.
Current junior Jaime Bairaktaris began by talking about moving from Redding to Westport in December of 8th grade — then, a few months later, having to adjust to a new, big high school. He dreaded the 1st day:
I got off my bus, after sitting next to some senior that I swore had to have been 25 years old (full beard, at least 7 feet tall, music blaring), and walked up to the brick building with blue windows.
Jaime Bairaktaris
Coming through a new door is a challenge for anybody. Who knows what’s on the other side? We, as a species, are afraid of the different, cautious of the unknown, proficient at avoiding vulnerability.
But on that other side was a man, smartly dressed and smiling, welcoming me to my first day of high school. He wore a name tag that read “Dodig” (which I pronounced “doddig” for quite some time).
Then Jaime asked the audience to do a little exercise.
We’ll only work 17 muscles, but they’re the most important muscles in our body. I need you all to smile — teeth showing and all.
It’ll be 4 years ago this September, but I still remember that he was smiling when I walked through those front doors. A smile is such a simple gesture — remember, just 17 muscles — yet so many people seem to underestimate the power of those muscles.
I’m now a rising senior, jaded in my ways, and well on my way to college. In these three years I’ve learned a lot. But most importantly I can now determine who’s a good person to keep around in life, and who isn’t.
Mr. Dodig was there to help in those times when I found those choice few who maybe weren’t keepers, but he didn’t treat them as typical troublemakers. Mr. Dodig treated those students as teenagers who were bound to make mistakes, just like we all are. He guided them to make better choices, and now I speak with some of those same kids on a daily basis.
John Dodig received this gift earlier today: a lenticular photo (showing 2 images), by Miggs Burroughs.
Throughout my life I will learn many things. Some I’ll take with me; some I will not. The most important lessons I’ve learned from Mr. Dodig are ones that will aid me throughout my life, and should be life lessons for all of us here today.
If I will remember anything from my time here, let it be the importance and immense power that a single smile can have on somebody’s day, and how to accept and forgive others even in a world where that may not be the easiest or most popular choice to make.
So Mr. Dodig, I thank you for making a difference in my life and the lives of countless others throughout your 11 years here at Staples High School. I hope as you look back on your days at Staples, thinking about all of the students you’ve watched pass through that front lobby in the morning, and about everybody you’ve been able to help over the years, that you can smile just as much as you’ve made us smile.
What do you give a principal who has given everything to his school?
How about a photo of him in his best “giving” mode?
But not just any photo. This is John Dodig.
And as the wildly popular principal prepares to retire after 11 years at Staples High — and 47 in the field of education — the school’s PTA turned to one of Westport’s best and most creative photographers: Miggs Burroughs.
Dodig received the unique gift this morning, in a special ceremony in the sun-splashed courtyard. First Selectman Jim Marpe, administrators and colleagues spoke — and so, very eloquently, did current students Jaime Bairaktaris and Nick Massoud, and graduate Michael Sixsmith.
Each speaker had stories. But all circled back to a common theme: Dodig’s greatest gifts were his passion, compassion, empathy, vision, willingness to listen, ability to be bold, and deep love for every single teenager and adult in his building.
Which leads to the gift he got today. Burroughs — a 1963 Staples grad — is well known for his lenticular images. They’re 2 separate shots; they change, depending on the angle you’re viewing from. (You can see 16 of them in the tunnel connecting Main Street and Parker Harding Plaza.)
One view of John Dodig’s lenticular photo…
Burroughs took the photos last month. (Dodig did not know why he was being photographed.) One shot shows a crowd of students streaming around the principal, as he stands in the school’s foyer. That’s a typical spot for him; for over a decade he has greeted thousands of students every morning and between classes — asking how their latest game or performance went, complimenting them on an achievement, answering their questions or merely saying hello.
It’s a diverse mix of students — just as Dodig is fond of noting the diversity that really is a hallmark of Staples High. In the middle of it all, the principal wears his trademark smile.
…and the other.
The 2nd shot shows a lone student casually studying. She sits on the school seal that frames the foyer. The school motto — which Dodig has embraced and personified — stands out: “Respsect for Life.”
Burroughs produced 2 copies of the lenticular photo. One will hang at Staples. The other is Dodig’s to keep — and cherish — forever.
John Dodig’s friends, fans — and of course, former students and parents — are invited to a celebration of his 11 years as Staples High School principal.
The coffee event is set for this Friday (May 29), at 9 a.m. in the Staples courtyard.
A couple of speakers will say a couple of words. Dodig will also speak (more eloquently than anyone else, as usual). There will be time for mingling too.
See you there!
This year, John Dodig “graduates” with the Class of 2015.
Comments Off on John Dodig Celebration Set For Friday
Posted in Education, People, Staples HS
Tagged John Dodig
On Monday, several hundred Staples High School seniors head off on internships. From hedge funds to organic farms, and ad agencies to pre-schools, they’ll spend 4 weeks learning about life in the real (work) world.
A week after that, they graduate.
Principal John Dodig will “graduate” with them, too. But in the last weeks of his 47-year career in education, he instituted a new tradition he hopes will last for decades.
When classes ended today for seniors, administrators invited them to a cookout on the football field. A band played (really well). Seniors ate, played, and hung out together for the last time until prom.
It was a classy end of classes, for a very classy class.
Alexander Baumann (left) and Jack Baylis both contributed to Staples in many ways.
Will Dumke (keyboard), August Densby (drums) and Andrew Puchala (guitar) rocked the house — er, football field.
Posted in Entertainment, People, Staples HS, Teenagers
When Eli Mitchell was in Staples High School last year, he admired John Dodig.
The principal said hello to him every day, asked how he was doing, and made him feel good.
Eli is out of high school now. Dodig retires next month. So, in honor of the principal — and to raise money for a Staples Tuition Grants scholarship in his name — Eli had an idea.
He’s spent the past few months designing his “Fret” (plural: “Fretz”). He patented them as “personal expression banners” — his generation’s replacement for buttons, stickers and patches. Each has a logo or message, and attach easily to anything — backpacks, for instance. You can add them to the strap, like guitar frets.
Eli created a set with the Staples “S,” and the words “Class of 2015.” He asked Dodig to sign some. The principal autographed 100.
Eli hopes to sell them all — to graduates, parents of grads (for gifts), and anyone else. The cost is $10; of that, he’ll donate $7 to the scholarship set up in Dodig’s name. (You can donate more to the fund, of course.)
An autographed “Class of 2015” Fret.
Eli’s business is just getting off the ground. He’s planning to add colleges, sports teams, flags and other designs to his “Fretz.” He hopes this 1st set will become collectibles — and that they’ll add a nice chunk of money to a fund named for Eli’s (and Westport’s) beloved principal.
(To order online, go to www.fretzdesigns.com)
Eli Mitchell, with a roll of Fretz.
It’s a fantastic honor for an educator to be named Connecticut’s Best of the Year.
It’s almost unheard of for 2 from the same district to earn those honors in the same year.
But that happened last night. Dr. Elliott Landon was feted as Superintendent of the Year, and John Dodig was cited as High School Principal of the Year. The awards were presented by the Connecticut PTA.
A large crowd of fellow educators and Board of Education members was on hand in Milford for the twin honors — perhaps a first in Connecticut history.
Both men praised the town, school system and PTAs for their roles in the awards.
It takes a village to raise a child — but a village also needs leaders. How nice that the Connecticut PTA has recognized ours.
First Selectman Jim Marpe, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Elliott Landon and Staples High School principal John Dodig at last night’s dinner. (Photo/Jim Honeycutt)
Posted in Education, Organizations, People, Staples HS
Tagged Connecticut PTA, Elliott Landon, Jim Marpe, John Dodig
Among his many gifts, Staples High School principal John Dodig has mastered the art of communicating important truths with simplicity and grace.
Recently, he sent a note to parents of graduating seniors. But its message is far broader. It should be read by anyone with children, of any age — and anyone who ever was a child. Dodig wrote:
Each year at this time I send a message to senior parents warning them to be ready for the feelings of loss as graduation day nears. This year, you and I are in the same boat. Both of us will face the end of our involvement in our child’s/student’s school life. Whether you have only one child or several, you will be hit with this intense sense of “the end” at some point between now and graduation day.
Graduation is a time for looking ahead — and back.
What makes the American high school experience unique in the world is that high school is so much more than simply a place to go each day to learn. In most of the rest of the world, if you want to learn to play the cello, learn to draw or cook, or be competitive at a sport, you do so on your own time on weekends.
In America, all of these experiences are wrapped up in the same package. Our children leave home each morning and return sometimes late at night having studied French and calculus and then done something after school.
Chances are, you and I were on the sidelines to watch the team, or in the audience to hear the concert and to support our child/student. We become so much a part of their lives that facing the end of this experience is difficult to imagine.
Parents support many activities — including the annual pops concert in the Staples courtyard.
Think back, for a moment, on the 1st day of school for your child. Try to imagine holding his little hand as you walked him to the bus or to school or even to the classroom.
You might remember your child not wanting to let go of you, maybe even crying. You knew you had to let go and allow her to begin the 12-year journey through public school.
That journey was sometimes difficult and sometimes easy. Those little hands got bigger and, at some point, didn’t want to be held in public any more.
Once in high school, these little boys and girls began changing into young men and women. Their bodies changed, their minds changed, their emotions changed, and they began to become somewhat independent people.
You still fed them. You still washed their clothes. You still paid for everything, but you sensed that they were beginning to separate from you and to prepare for a life apart from you and family.
On graduation day you will share in an emotional experience with your son or daughter. You will hug, get photos taken, have a party with family and then face a long summer where they will start preparing for what will come after high school.
They will always be your children, but you will never again be a part of their lives in the way you have been for the past twelve years. That will come to an end.
Among the “graduates” this year: principal John Dodig (right).
I will share your sense of loss, because I have watched thousands of young kids walk into our high school and begin to grow into competent, well-educated young adults only to leave us on graduation day. This will be the last graduation day for me, and I am grateful to share it with your child.
Use the next few months to revel in your beautiful creation. Your son/daughter will take a part of you into the future and perhaps create a new generation. Make that last hug in school at graduation tighter and stronger than normal, so that the feeling of that hug will last forever.
Posted in Children, Education, People, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged John Dodig, Staples High School
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