By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — Joel Baker felt the time was right to take the next step in his professional life.
Baker recently resigned following four years as Athletic Director at Teays Valley High School to become an Assistant Principal at Watkins Memorial High School in southwest Licking County.
“It was a hard decision, because I’ve had a nice run at Teays Valley as girls basketball coach and then as athletic director,” Baker said. “I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish at Teays Valley and there are a lot of good people in the district and the community.
“I felt the time was right to take the next step in my work life. It would be nice to be at home a little more with my family and I felt this was the next step in my career as an educator. I’m excited, because there are a lot of similarities between the type of districts that Teays Valley and Watkins Memorial have.”
Baker and his wife, Betsy, have three children between the ages of one and four.
Baker had a busy tenure leading the Vikings through the COVID-19 pandemic and then helping the district end a decade-long search for a new league when Teays Valley was approved in November 2021 as a new member of the Ohio Capital Conference, beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
“Obviously, getting us into the Ohio Capital Conference was a big highlight of my time at Teays Valley, because it’s a conference that more meets our demographics, size and where our district is heading,” Baker said. “It was a move that we needed to make for a variety of reasons, including providing the best opportunity for our student-athletes to have tournament success.
“I’m proud of the athletic leadership council that we built, which gave student-athletes a say in what we did as an athletic department. When I took over as athletic director, I wanted to create an athletic department where our coaches work together and for each other and not just have a loose confederation of sports. When I see a tweet that we have 70 girls in the weight room from several different sports working together to get better, that’s something we can take pride in.”
The district has also made a number of improvements to its athletic facilities, including the construction of a two-story, 40,000 square foot fieldhouse that opened in the fall of 2021.
“(Former superintendent Robin Halley) was a driving force behind the new fieldhouse and giving our kids a third weight room, three full-length courts and batting cages,” Baker said. “Having an indoor tennis match this spring when the elements prevented us from playing outdoors was a highlight.
“We knew we needed to step up our facilities to get ready for moving to the OCC. Our facilities are second-to-none in Pickaway County and will only continue to get nicer to meet the growing needs of the district.”
Teays Valley is currently accepting applications for a new Athletic Director.
