BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Millstone Township Middle School Athletic Director and physical education teacher Ken Adams will retire after 35 years of service in the district. MILLSTONE - Ken Adams will throw in the towel this year.

Adams, 60, will retire at the end of the school year after 36 years of serving the Millstone Township School District. Adams is currently the physical education and health teacher at the Millstone Township Middle School, as well as the school's athletic director.

"Going into physical education was a natural thing for me to do," Adams said. "I enjoy sports, and I enjoy working with kids and teaching them different skills and different sports."

Adams said he decided to teach because he admired his high school physical education teacher and coach. Adams grew up in a small town called Pine Plains in upstate New York. He ended up in Millstone after serving in the Vietnam War.

After receiving his master's degree from Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., he enlisted in the U.S. Army. The army shipped him out to Germany and while he was still serving in the army there, the Millstone Township School District offered him a job.

Adams moved from upstate New York to East Windsor. He spent a couple of years in East Windsor before moving to Hamilton Township, where he and his wife, Diane, still reside.

His wife played a large part in Adams' decision to retire, he said.

"My wife was also a teacher, a fifth-grade teacher," Adams said. "But she has been retired the last two years."

Besides having plans to travel with his wife after retirement, he also wants to keep active in sports.

"I love golf, but I don't get to play it a lot," he said. "Hopefully, when I retire I will get to play a lot."

Adams also wants to continue playing men's flag football and basketball. He would like to give fishing a try as well.

Adams said he enjoyed teaching in the Millstone Township School District.

"I liked teaching here," Adams said. "That is why I never left. I enjoy the people. The parents were nice, and I liked the kids."

Millstone Township Middle School Principal Dan Bland said he will miss Adams both professionally and personally.

"I happen to think Mr. Adams is one of the most dedicated and caring teachers we have on our staff," Bland said. "He has spent countless hours as a coach and [has served] as athletic director for years."

Adams has always been "one of the first teachers to arrive at the school in the morning and one of the last to leave," according to Bland.

"He is always working to go the extra mile, assisting with the budget, working out student problems," Bland said.

When asked how the district will replace Adams, Bland said, "I don't think you can replace a person like Ken Adams.

"Those are big shoes to fill," he added, "and I think the next person will have to make a mark in a different way. I don't think the role can be duplicated."

Kelly Rossetto, who has taught physical education in the district for the past 15 years said, "It will be sad when he goes, and I think a lot will be lost."

Rossetto said Adams is unlike any gym

teacher she has worked with while studying to become one herself.

"Unlike most who just throw the ball out there, Ken is very hands-on and gives in-depth lessons. He's helpful, [he's] a great coach, and he is a mentor. He guided me through my first years here."

When Adams first started in the Millstone Township School District, he taught physical education to students in grades one through eight. At that time, there were only 475 students total in the elementary and middle school. As the end of his career approaches, he is teaching six classes a day in grades six through eight, he said, but the overall student population has increased to about 1,600 students.

Throughout his career, Adams witnessed numerous changes in the school district, including the construction of a new elementary school and middle school. He helped oversee the construction of the gymnasium in the elementary school and is doing the same with the gymnasium for the new middle school.

Adams was the only physical education teacher in the school district "for many years," he said. As the district grew, Carol Leto came on board and then Rossetto. The district now has eight physical education teachers.

"When Ken came on board," Rossetto said, "he was the only gym teacher, and the cafeteria was his gymnasium."

When asked what else has changed since he first started working in Millstone, Adams said, "Besides the farms disappearing and more houses being built?"

"We have brought in different activities," he added, "but we still have many of the same units."

Adams still incorporates sports such as football, soccer, baseball and volleyball, but he also teaches golf and Ultimate Frisbee. Many of the lessons incorporate dancing, too, he said. Physical education and health classes are still 43 minutes long, but Millstone Township students haven't worn gym uniforms since the mid '70s.

When he first started teaching in Millstone, the school district did not even have a health program.

"I developed the health curriculum," Adams said. "We talk about current topics - family life, alcohol, drugs, tobacco and sexual diseases."

His accomplishments as an athletic director have included expanding the middle school's sports program from three to 15 sports.

At first, the school only offered flag football, basketball and softball, all of which Adams coached. Now the after-school program offers cheerleading, wrestling, lacrosse, and track and field, among other activities, and Adams oversees about 30 coaches.

Adams said the school's sports teams consists of almost 200 students total at their peak in the spring. The track and field team alone has 115 kids on it, he said.

When asked what some of his fondest memories are, Adams said, "Many of the conference championships come to mind, and the way we won some of the games."

Adams said he also has fond memories of finding out that students he taught sports to in the middle school went on to play in high school and/or college.

"You hope that it's you that got them started," Adams said. "Sometimes it isn't, but sometimes it is. Overall, it's satisfying to see kids succeed."

Adams offered some advice for whoever will replace him.

"You have a lot of parent support here," Adams said. "I hope the person can continue in the position and improve on what I've done."

Throughout his career, Adams said, he has had support from the district's administration, staff and parents.

"Thanks to the parents in the district for all of their support over the years," Adams said. "They are the ones that pick the kids up and make sure they are at practice and [at] games on time."