Fort Mill High School Sorry to See Damm Go
By The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.
May 14–FORT MILL — Our loss, Clover’s gain.
If there’s one thing students, teachers and administrators at Fort Mill High School and the school district office agree on, it’s that sentiment.
Principal David Damm is leaving to become an assistant superintendent with the Clover school district at the end of the school year.
And there is much his colleagues and students will miss.
It’s his dry wit and sense of humor that Pam Pittman will miss most. Pittman, an assistant principal, graduated from Fort Mill High and has worked at the school for 23 years.
“This administrative team we’ve got right now is one of the finest and strongest I’ve ever served on,” Pittman said. “I’m not quite ready to leave that.”
After Damm told her his decision, she responded, “No. You’re not done here yet.”
Pittman was alluding to the timing of his announcement. It arrives as the district’s second high school, Nation Ford, is at a midpoint in construction, and just months before a new middle school is set to open. Damm was chosen to be the first principal at Nation Ford before changing his mind in favor of the Clover job.
Damm has only been principal at the sole high school in South Carolina’s fastest growing school district for two years, but he’s had to handle the district’s multiple staff changes and growing pains like a veteran.
“I walked in not having worked at a school for 20 years and without any preconceived ideas — other than respect for young people and teachers,” Damm said. “I’ve never lost that.”
He came to Fort Mill High in 1999 as an assistant principal after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and as director of the district’s transportation and maintenance department.
Since then, Damm has helped plan how the school will be divided once Nation Ford opens. He has helped implement the Career Cluster program, which former district Superintendent Thomas “TEC” Dowling called a model program statewide and nationally. He also created a five-year plan for the school and headed the committee to hire a new football coach.
“He’s been on the cutting edge at the school since he went there,” Dowling said.
But it’s the spirit he brought with him that has meant the most to some of his students.
“Things changed when he became principal,” said KaCee Woods, an 18-year-old graduating senior.
Woods said she’ll miss Damm because he “always focused on the academic and the school spirit.”
He helped reinstate the powder puff football game her friends valued as a tradition, Woods said. She also recalls that Damm has been at every cheerleading competition.
Student Council President Jonathan Cote also lauded Damm.
“He’s a great guy,” Cote said, remembering how Damm let the council have a “Moulin Rouge” theme to its Miss Fort Mill High School pageant in February. The students didn’t think he would.
Damm said though he will miss interacting directly with students, he is excited about the Clover job. He said the job is ideal for him, as is the timing. He turns 50 this summer and has always wanted an administrative position at the district level.
“I haven’t come to term with not being here just yet,” Damm said matter-of-factly.
He went on to joke, “You move around every three years in the Marines. So I don’t see what the big fuss is.”
But Assistant Principal Pittman assures Damm’s goodbye is only temporary.
“I predict that at some point we’ll see him back in this district,” Pittman said with a wink.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.
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