Kelly Saiz
Reporter
In twenty-six years, Thomas Smith transformed the Industrial Education into the Career and Technical Education department that it is today. To many, Mr. Smith is more than a colleague or teacher; he is a friend and mentor who oversaw the tremendous growth of his field within the school.
Principal Tony Pavia, who began working with Mr. Smith eight years ago, knew from the beginning that Mr. Smith met his profession with enthusiasm. “My first impression was that he was a man who took his profession and the discipline he taught very seriously,” Mr. Pavia said. “I was very impressed with how passionate he was about his area.”
A pivotal moment in Mr. Smith’s career was the remodeling of the school four years ago. During that time, Mr. Smith served as a liaison between the Building Committee and the faculty. At the same time, Mr. Smith oversaw the emergence of today’s Career and Technical Education department, which matched its array of courses with new facilities. “When his department was growing, he was instrumental and his leadership was indispensible to the department being re-classified and re-structured,” Mr. Pavia said.
During what Mr. Pavia calls the “Smith Years,” the department went from automobile, engineering, and newspaper and expanded to incorporate TV, Family and Consumer Science, Child Care, Yearbook, Business, and the School Store. It was at this time that Mr. Smith was appointed as the school’s first Career and Tech. Ed. Department Head.
Although his career efforts and accomplishments have introduced a new age of Career and Technical Education, Mr. Smith indicated that the students are still his priority. “Out of everything in my career, it’s the students that I enjoy the most. I just like the maturity and respect that I get,” he said, “I can talk to students on an eye-to-eye level. I just enjoy that level of integrity.”
His vision for the Career and Tech. program was focused on student learning and the application of skills. “I wanted to give kids an opportunity to take all that they had learned in all of their classes and courses throughout their education and give them an opportunity to actually apply it,” he said.
When Career and Tech. Ed. Department Head Jim Zambarano came into the school system 16 years ago, Mr. Smith offered his assistance. “He’s been a great mentor. He’s been someone I can ask questions about pretty much anything,” Mr. Zambarano said. “I was brand new to this position so I learned a lot from him.”
With a plethora of accomplishment behind him, Mr. Smith looks forward to an ambitious retirement. Aside from traveling overseas, taking up a permanent residence in Vermont, and pursuing his passion for snowmobiling and other winter sports, Mr. Smith has a dream that involves two wheels. “I want to ride my motorcycle across the country,” he said. “I’ve wanted to do that since I was a teenager.”
After Mr. Smith’s retirement, Mr. Zambarano will continue to shape the Career and Tech program. “We’ll pick up where he left off and continue in a way that is forward-thinking for the whole program,” Mr. Zambarano said.
Mr. Smith has plans to visit frequently (his daughter’s family lives in New Canaan), but his friends and colleagues will miss his presence daily. “He was much more than a colleague and a professional,” Mr. Pavia said. “I always considered Tom a very close friend and I just feel that both of us grew together in our jobs. For me, next year will be different without him. I’m going to miss him.”
