Montezuma-Cortez High School assistant principal Chris Kelley will be picking up the school’s athletic director responsibilities moving forward.
With former M-CHS athletic director Stacey Hall retiring as of July 1 – and with the school restructuring its athletic department – Kelley will serve as assistant principal and athletic director starting the 2016-17 school year.
After graduating from Colorado State University in 2004 with a B.A. in History, Kelley moved to California for seven years, saying that he wanted life experience before going into teaching.
Upon returning to Colorado, he received his M.A. in Educational Leadership from CSU in 2013 and was hired as a social studies teacher at M-CHS.
“I’d always wanted to move down here so I applied to a bunch of places in the southwest and I got the job in Cortez,” he explained. “I absolutely love it. I want to retire here.”
After two years teaching social studies, Kelley served as assistant principal for the 2015-16 school year, before being named as the new athletic director for the upcoming year.
Kelley, who was an assistant football coach for the Panthers in 2014 and is a self-proclaimed sports nut, is excited for his new role in athletics.
“I’m really excited to be more entrenched in sports because I’m a sports nut,” he explained. “It’s going to be awesome to be able to work more closely with coaches and parents and obviously, the students, and just taking on that role.”
“I love Cortez, I love M-CHS and I just want to do as much as I can for the community and the school,” he continued. “And I feel like this is a good opportunity to do that.”
With the restructuring of the department, Kelley will have an assistant, and outgoing A.D. Hall will stay on for a transition year to mentor Kelley and his assistant in day-to-day operations of scheduling, budget and program management.
“It’s technical and there is a lot of stuff to learn,” Kelley said of his new role. “But [Stacey Hall] will be around in that supporting role to show me the ropes, and I’m very thankful for that.”