New athletic director settles in

By Shelby New

 

There are many newcomers to Yosemite High School and they are not all students. There are many new staff members as well (see page 4 for a complete list of the new staff). A new administrator at YHS is Tom Fiormonti, the high school's new athletic director, assistant principal and principal of Mountain View.

Fiormonti has been a classroom teacher for 26 years; this is his first job as an administrator. He came to work in Oakhurst from Porterville. He grew up in Northern California.

He taught business and computer classes all 26 years of his career. He coached basketball for 15 years and also coached football and baseball. This is the first year that he won't be coaching.

He says he loves sports and encourages students to go out for them. He thinks of sports as an extension of the classroom. Fiormonti says sports are a good way to make friends and stay out of trouble.

He has no plans for making changes as the athletic director. He jokes that he doesn't want to mess things up. He wants to maintain the athletic achievements of the school.

He also doesn't plan to make any changes in his assistant principal position.

He says that he hasn't been here long enough and he didn't come here to shake things up. He says he is just here to help out with everyday problems.

When he's not sure how to handle a problem, he is not afraid to ask for help. He seeks a lot of advice from Principal Steve Raupp and the school's other assistant principal, David Read. Fiormonti says he is enjoying his new position and the new challenges that come with it.

He is absolutely enjoying working at YHS. Fiormonti says there are very nice people here and they make him feel very comfortable. He says he is fortunate that he works at a job where everybody works together.

Fiormonti says he is on the backside of his career and that it has been very rewarding.