Former Interim Dean of Students and Athletic Director of Nonnewaug Leaves for Avon High

After his retirement from the position of Torrington High School athletic director in June, Newell Porch will join Avon High School as temporary athletic coordinator starting Jan. 3.

The letter of appointment that the Avon Central Office sent to Porch, which Patch obtained, congratulates him and outlines the terms of his temporary employment. He will work for 52 weeks from Jan. 3 to June 30, 2011 for a pro-rated annualized salary of $30,662.01.

In his introductory speech at the Avon Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Porch immediately turned the attention away from himself and congratulated Jim Murray, girls varsity soccer coach, for being honored as National Girls Soccer Coach of the Year. The team went to the finals this past November and lost to Regional Haddam Andover Marlborough (RHAM).

"I have read about the accomplishments of the soccer team for many, many years," Porch said. "Congratulations, that's a fantastic honor."

He said a quick thank you to the board, staff and Coordinator of Athletics Tanya Adorno, and then headed home to see his grandchildren,  who have flown in from Virginia for the holidays.

Though retired, Porch remains active. In Aug. 2010, he become interim dean of students and athletic director at Nonnewaug High School, which serves Bethlehem and Woodbury students as part of the Region 14 school district.

Porch, who lives in Torrington, preceded Athletic Director Janet Giampaolo in Torrington, according to previous reports in The Register Citizen. He was athletic director there from 1993 to 2010 and assistant athletic director from 1986 to 1992, overseeing middle school athletics, according to his resume. From 1980 to 2005, Porch was a quad leader, a position similar to dean of students.

He was also a physical education teacher at Torrington High School from 2009 to 2010, and a health teacher between 1980 and 2007 and then again from 2009 to 2010.  

Porch began his career as a physical education teacher at Vogel Middle School in Torrington, and was a Vogel and Torrington High School coach for swimming, football and tennis.

While at Torrington, Porch was also the Naugatuck Valley Sports Chair for boys and girls tennis and boys swimming; vice president of the Naugatuck Valley League; a member of the Naugatuck Valley Protest Committe; and a liason between the league and area principals. 

Though Avon is more than 30 minutes from Torrington, Porch already has connections in the Avon community. One of the swimmers he coached in Torrington, Diana Cesaro, is currently assistant swim coach at Avon High School.

The position of temporary athletic director is a contracted  position, so Porch will not be a full-time staff member in the interim period.

Porch said he is looking forward to "working with the student athletes."

Adorno, who has been at the high school since 2009, will finish out the year before moving back to Maine, where she was once a student and three-year event coordinator at the University of Maine-Orono, according to The Hartford Courant. In her younger years, Adorno played on the Farmington High School girls' varsity soccer team.

"She worked tirelessly on behalf of all those employed and who participated in athletics," Avon High School Principal Jason Beaudin said. "We wish her the very best."