Where Are They Now?
Tad Tokarz in 2007 as a 40 Under Forty honoree (right) and today in his office at Springfield Central High School.
Tad Tokarz
Only a few months after being named to BusinessWest’s inaugural 40 Under Forty cohort in 2007, Tad Tokarz won a promotion.
At the time of that first award ceremony, he was wrapping up another school year as assistant principal and director of Athletics at Springfield’s Central High School. But then-Principal Dick Stoddard retired, and Tokarz, then just 33 years old, applied for and won the job.
It altered his life’s course in some ways, but has impacted the lives of young people in far more meaningful ones.
As for his career, he was the owner of the Western Mass. Sports Journal at the time, which covered sports at a variety of levels, but always with a Pioneer Valley slant. Operating out of the Scibelli Enterprise Center at Springfield Technical Community College, it was, in essence, a second full-time job, and one he couldn’t keep going after his promotion at Central.
“Once I became principal, it was just too much work. So we had to shut it down,” Tokarz recalled. “But it was good while it lasted. The experience that I got from from running my own business has helped me tremendously here, because this is a business, with the hiring and the partnerships and the thinking outside the box. So I think that experience really helped me push Central forward in a unique direction.”
And that he has, in more than one way. “Physically, it’s a different place,” he said, citing the addition of a three-story science wing with 12 classrooms, a renovation to the athletic complex, and a current project to renovate the theater and gymnasium.
But socially, Central is also different, he added, noting that “we have put so many safeguards in place and wraparound services for our kids.”
And academically, well, the numbers speak for themselves; last year’s seniors set a Central record with $24 million in scholarship offers.
“We sent kids to some of the best colleges and universities in the country, and it’s great giving kids an opportunity to excel in whatever interests them once they graduate. We tell our kids, ‘we want you to have options when you graduate,’ and I think we’re doing a pretty good job.
“It’s very rewarding to see where these kids actually end up, and to feel like you played a small part in their development.”
“We have a tremendous staff, and the district has given us an amazing amount of support,” he went on. “Yes, COVID was a real challenge for us. But we came out stronger, I think, after COVID. What transpired was kids starting to participate more in clubs and activities. That’s a big part of who we are. We want our kids to participate, whether it be ROTC, athletics, clubs, whatever it is.”
Students have also improved academically, and that success has been mirrored by Central’s athletic programs, which bring in 10 to 15 Division I athletic scholarships each year, “so we’re watching our kids play on TV, which is fun,” Tokarz told BusinessWest.
“Now, we have every college in the country recruiting our students, athletically and academically. This year, we created a new position of recruiting coordinator; he meets with a lot of the seniors about the kinds of colleges would best suit them, along with our guidance counselors, adjustment counselors, and graduation coaches. So we’re done a lot of different things the last 17 years, put in a lot of different positions, to push kids forward, not just in the classroom, but far beyond that.”
Tokarz, always willing to work toward self-improvement — for instance, he completed an Ironman triathlon in 2005 just two years after starting to train on a bike and in the pool — has earned a doctorate degree in educational leadership since his promotion to principal. But while working toward becoming a better leader, he still says it’s the students and staff that make his job fulfilling.
“They make this place what it is. And it’s never boring; you’re helping people get to the next chapter in their life, and that, to me, is very rewarding,” he said. As for the staff, “the people that we have surrounding our students are second to none, and the reason why we’ve been so successful over this time period.”
New challenges are always emerging in education; right now, Massachusetts schools are waiting to see if voters decide on Nov. 5 to keep the MCAS test as a graduation requirement.
If they decide to change course, Tokarz said, “I’m interested to see how that’s going to change the testing and the accountability, because we’ve always focused on accountability — that’s important to us.”
No matter how the standardized test is deployed, Tokarz said he and his team will continue to help students get the best grades possible and envision a future where anything is possible.
“I just came back from the 10-year reunion of the Central High School class of 2014, and we have dentists, doctors, veterinarians, people working downtown in New York City on the Today show … all kinds of stuff. It’s very rewarding to see where these kids actually end up, and to feel like you played a small part in their development.”
