Groton High School welcomes new associate principal

If you missed the July 14 publication of Groton on the Inside, you may want to go back to read about Groton Jr./Sr. High School’s (GHS) new principal, Brian Kavanagh. But this week, I would like to introduce you to Jean Amodeo, who is now the associate principal at GHS.

Like Kavanagh, Amodeo also began her tenure at Groton on July 1, replacing Jake Roe, who vacated the position at the end of June to alleviate a long commute and to be closer to his family.

Amodeo was born and raised in Bay Shore, New York, and got her entire K-12 education at Bay Shore school system. She has been a resident of Ithaca ever since she graduated from high school in 1994 and came here to study English education at Ithaca College.

While attending high school, Amodeo played tennis and soccer, but her real passion was participating in the drama club doing backstage lighting.

Throughout her high school years, Amodeo was also in the Boy Scouts as part of a high adventure explorer post, which she explained was the equivalent of what is known today as a Venture Crew.

Rock climbing, hiking and mountaineering filled much of her time and were very enjoyable for her, and she served as an adviser to her post for several years thereafter — meeting up with them for trips all over the country even though she lived in Ithaca.

Amodeo unabashedly admits that the academics part of school was difficult for her, but her ninth-grade English teacher and tennis coach, Reverend John Morrison, was extremely supportive of her and was her inspiration for becoming a teacher.

“He inspired me so much that I decided then that that was what I wanted to do with my life,” Amodeo said. “I didn’t want to leave school at all, and I didn’t — I’m still here.”

Amodeo was also candid about her family’s socioeconomic status.

“The only reason I ended up being able to attend IC was that it offered me the best financial aid package possible,” Amodeo said. “I never even saw the campus before I came because we didn’t have the time or resources to visit colleges.”

At IC, Amodeo rowed with the varsity crew team because “it was one of the only sports I could walk into without prior experience. Plus, it seemed very collegiate and upper-class, and quite honestly, that was very appealing to me because of my childhood,” she said.

Crew worked out well for Amodeo because she earned two silver medals in the Champion International Collegiate Regattas and a gold medal in the New York State Rowing Championship.

When Amodeo graduated with her bachelor’s in English in 1998, she began teaching senior English at Corning West High School, where she remained for three years until she saw an opportunity to teach in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD), starting there in 2001.

Amodeo attended Middlebury College in Vermont during the summer months from 2001 to 2003, from which she earned her master’s in English.

During her tenure at ICSD, which lasted until February 2018, Amodeo taught English, was a technology mentor, data coordinator and master scheduler, and chaired the English Dept., though not all at once!

Commuting once again, Amodeo attended SUNY Cortland nights and summers from 2014 to 2015 to obtain her certificate of advanced study, which she put to good use as the principal of Southern Cayuga’s Emily Howland Elementary School when she left ICSD to pursue an administrative position.

Amodeo enjoyed her principalship, but she longed to return to secondary education.

“It’s just a better fit for me than elementary,” she said, so she began looking for the right opportunity to make a change.

“I knew I wanted to stay in a small district,” Amodeo said. “I really missed the hometown feeling when I was at Ithaca and didn’t want to go back to a large district again.”

Amodeo spoke about her successes designing student support systems. While at Emily Howland, she was instrumental in having the school identified by New York state as a recognition school.

“It’s my vision and goal to do the same for GHS,” Amodeo said. “This district has a lot of resources and grants to increase student achievement and that makes me excited to take on the work.”

In her leisure time, Amodeo enjoys spending time with her dogs — Maggie, a 9-year-old rescue dog, and Scout, a 5-year-old mini golden-doodle she inherited when her mother passed away two years ago.

Amodeo also spends time sailing on Cayuga Lake, fly-fishing (including tying her own flies), hiking (though not as much as she did in her earlier years), bicycle touring in the U.S. and in Europe, and just relaxing and watching television or reading.

“I’m really happy to be here,” Amodeo said. “And I’m looking forward to attending school and community events, getting to know students and their families, and seeing more students and teachers in the building than are here now in the summer.”

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief: 

Puppet Show with Tom Knight 

The Groton Public Library will host a free live puppet show with Tom Knight at 6:30 p.m. July 29, in its new expansion space. This will be a fun, interactive event for all ages, but especially children. Sponsored by the Community Arts Partnership.

Vacation Bible School 

The McLean Community Church UCC, 50 Church St., will present its Vacation Bible School (VBS) “Christmas in July” from 6 to 8:15 p.m. nightly July 25 through 29 for children ages five through 12.

Lessons, crafts, games, snacks and more will be provided. Please call (607) 423-6962 to register your children.

Calling all vendors! 

Groton Olde Home Days is now accepting vendor forms. The festival will take place Aug. 26 through Aug. 28. Visit grotonoldehomedays.com to download a form.

The annual Craft and Collectible show will be one day only, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 28. Please fill out the correct vendor form to reserve your spot.

If you or your organization or business would like to be added to the events list, please email grotonoldehomedays@aol.com.