New Machias Memorial High School leader named

MACHIAS – The Machias school committee has hired Terry Atwood of Bucksport as the new principal of Machias Memorial High School.

Superintendent Betty Jordan said Atwood will be at the school Monday and will assume his position on Nov. 27, the day principal Clark Rafford’s resignation becomes effective.

Rafford is leaving Machias after a little more than two years to become principal of Southern Aroostook Middle and High School, she said.

Jordan said Atwood was chosen from a large field of strong applicants and was one of five candidates interviewed by the Machias school committee.

Atwood is a native of Bucksport and graduated from Bucksport High School in 1975.

He has a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in business organizational management from Laverne University in Calfornia. He pursued graduate work in education at the University of Maine.

Before entering the field of education, Atwood served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years as an officer and a pilot. His tours of duty included Alaska, Guam, Germany, Turkey, Korea, the Azores, Spain and England.

Atwood taught leadership and psychology for three years at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone before serving as the assistant principal and athletic director at the Fort Fairfield Middle-High School in Aroostook County.

His most recent position was as principal of the Penobscot Elementary School in Hancock County.

Atwood and his wife, Debora, have two children. Their daughter, Kam, is a graduate student in occupational therapy at the University of New England in Biddeford. Their son, Corey, is a freshman majoring in political science at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts.