Eric James and his wife Kathy recently returned from a trip to the Outer Banks.
The pair had quite a lot to celebrate. First, it was the couple’s wedding anniversary, always a happy time.
But when the two returned to the Upper Ohio Valley, it wasn’t just the end of a lengthy trek that marked a homecoming for James. It was the beginning of a symbolic one.
James’ lengthy career in education began in the mid-1990s and, for the last five years, saw the John Marshall graduate serve as the K-8 principal in the Switzerland of Ohio school district at River Elementary and Middle School.
But earlier last week, James learned he’d been accepted as the new principal of Brooke High School in Wellsburg, marking a return to education in the Mountain State.
Monday morning, James made the trek to Hannibal to begin clearing out his office after a half-decade of memories in the River school system.
It’s a place where he’s served as an administrator, an assistant coach, and a strength and conditioning coach, helping shape young lives as they progress from their formative years, through adolescence and into adulthood.
It’s an interesting time period in his life, but one he’s ready to get started.
“It’s kind of a mess, being on the outs at one place and (preparing) to head to another,” James said. “I’m heading down there today actually to start to gather everything.”
James greatly enjoyed his time at River but felt it was time to meet one of his lifetime goals in education. When that opportunity presented itself at Brooke, he had to jump at the chance.
“What brought me to the opportunity the most is the challenge of getting back into a high school,” James admitted. “I always aspired to be a high school principal and the fact that I could come back home and return to West Virginia made that opportunity a little more special.”
“I worked with high school kids all the time at River being that the (elementary) school was interconnected on the same campus. I also had the opportunity to work with (the high school kids) through coaching. It was a great experience.”
Noticing a Few Changes
A graduate of John Marshall, the former Monarch began his teaching career at the former Bishop Donahue High School in McMechen.
There he served as Athletics Director, as well as an instructor, assistant football, and head baseball coach. As James noted, “At a Catholic school you get to wear many hats.”
Staying in the county, James then made the move to public school education, with a stop at Central Elementary in Moundsville, followed by taking a job in the Cameron school system for Marshall County Schools. There he worked as a health and PE educator, helping coach football and lead the Dragons’ baseball program.
Following a nearly 20-year career at Cameron, he made the move to administration in July 2018 at River, a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from Northcentral University made that possible.
Now, the graduate of a former chief rival of the Brooke Bruins is returning to lead the school’s continued resurgence.
Safe to say, the Bruins’ campus looks slightly different than the last time James set foot on it.
“It’s a lot different,” James said with a slight chuckle. “They’ve constructed a brand new middle school, there’s been a lot of facilities upgrades, and the building in general has been upgraded and looks wonderful.
“I hadn’t been there in a long while.”
Enough years have passed where the Bruins-Monarchs rivalry no longer burns for James. He knows there’s a lot going on at the Brooke County school and he’s planning to help that continue.
“I’m looking to go up there and honestly help (continue to) reignite the fire that I know exists in that area of West Virginia,” James said. “They have an extremely proud tradition. They’ve brought things back athletically. They have an enthusiastic basketball coach in Adam Shinsky, Doug Costain is coming in to be a baseball coach and they have a new athletics director.
“It’s a very athletic-minded group and when I get there, I’m going to be focused on the academic side. They have a lot of great tech programs too. This is a job hopefully I can put a lot of years into and make some marks.”
James admitted he might make some subtle adjustments at the start, but will stave off from any wholesale changes for a while. He has a philosophy and a personal vision of how he’d like things to run, but he also wants to get a feel for the school and its staff.
“I’m a high energy guy, a grinder, and I want to bring that old school, bring your lunchpail to work mentality,” said James, noting that he developed that work ethic watching his father, who spent 47 years at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel. “I know a lot of families up there take pride in what they do on a daily basis. There’s a lot of that mentality and I want to bring it back.”
“I’m very thankful to the Brooke County Board of Education, of Jeffrey Crook, Corey Murphy, for giving me the opportunity and I’m looking forward to working with the faculty and staff.”
A Break from Sports
James’ 27 years in education also includes an equal amount of time working as a coach.
At River, he served as head coach Mike Flannery’s defensive coordinator and the team’s strength and conditioning coach.
During his time at both Cameron and Bishop, James served as the head baseball coach and assisted on football and other teams.
But now, his focus is squarely on the administration and education side of the school district. He’s hanging up his coaching whistle, at least for now.
“After 27 years, I’m hanging it up for a while and working to get settled into this new position,” James said. “Being in the high school, with a lot larger building, is a tall task, and one I’m ready to meet head-on.
“As far as coaching goes, we’ll see what happens down the road.”
But all those years of coaching, all those years of working in different school systems, both public and parochial, have given James a broad spectrum of experiences.
He’s learned what works, what doesn’t, and multiple approaches to accomplishing the same goal. It’s those experiences that will prove invaluable in Wellsburg.
“I’ve been around different groups from all walks of life,” James said. “I learned different ways of doing things, and use the good portions of those to cultivate my own ideals. I feel like I can adapt to whatever environment I end up in.
“Everybody does things differently and learning all of those techniques will be extremely advantageous in this transition.”
