AGAWAM – When Agawam Schools Superintendent Steven Lemanski came to the district 15 years ago, he never imagined he’d be in the position he is now.

“I could tell you, or my friends could tell you, or my mother could tell you, who has passed away, that they wouldn’t have saw me in this position at some point,” he stated. “And I say this to kids a lot, do you think I wanted to be a superintendent when I was 18-years-old? No way, things happen and you get to where you are whatever road there is.”

Lemanski got his start in education at Springfield College, where he graduated in 1982 with a degree to teach Health and Physical Education. After graduating, he said, “there weren’t a lot of jobs,” so he took a job with the Department of Youth Services (DYS). “I ended up getting a job for DYS, and I worked in a jail basically for kids for 10 years,” he told Reminder Publishing.

From there, he went on to teach in the Chicopee Public Schools district. “I was teaching at both Chicopee High and Chicopee Comp., going back and forth doing health and phys ed.,” he explained. Throughout his time in Chicopee, Lemanski said he had many opportunities including working as a mediator at Chicopee High School and becoming a department chair.

Lemanski said he learned a lot of valuable skills working as a mediator. “[I] really found a lot of good information doing that, and how to kind of resolve some issues in a nice way, and that actually has helped me along the way a lot,” he stated. He continued to move up the ranks in Chicopee, moving into working on curriculum for health and physical education at Chicopee Comp., and then eventually becoming the athletic director, which he described as “the job I always wanted to do.”

However, once again budgets became tight, moving Lemanski out of the position of athletic director. “Budgets got tight, people’s jobs were getting cut and I got bumped out of my job by someone who had more seniority than I did. That kind of moved me back into my old job, which was fine, but then they kept trying to cut that,” he said.

Around the same time, Lemanski said he “ran into a friend who was assistant principal at the high school here in Agawam.” That friend, Kathleen McSweeny, had recently taken a new job and encouraged him to apply for the now open position of assistant principal. At first, Lemanski said he was hesitant and didn’t know if the job would be the right fit for him. “I said ‘Well, I’m not a disciplinarian, I like athletics, I work with the kids, I don’t want to be that person,’” he explained. But soon after, he found himself applying for and then accepting the job. “I needed to take control and not feel like I might lose my job, and so I came here, got the job and started just before Thanksgiving in 2004.”

From there, he’s continued in the Agawam district, working his way up to the position of superintendent.

“I worked as an assistant principal up until March of 2007, and then I became principal of the high school,” he said. Lemanski worked under now–mayor William Sapelli as superintendent for a few years. He said, “As he retired, [I] threw my hat in the ring.”

He said since coming to Agawam in 2004 he’s enjoyed the atmosphere and support the district has offered so much he’s turned down other jobs to stay.

“It was actually every 10 years I was moving, and then at 10 years [in Agawam] I was actually offered a job in Granby as superintendent that I didn’t take because I wanted to stay here and felt comfortable here,” he said.

He said his favorite part of being superintendent has been the people he’s able to work with.

“This office has certainly been a real breath of fresh air. Everybody is so professional, so hardworking, and at the same time fun,” Lemanski said. He added that leaving his coworkers and everyone else he’s had the pleasure of working with would be one of the hardest things about retiring. “That might be one of the hardest pieces, is to leave a place where the people that you’re working with are so supportive and are actually just nice people.”

Lemanski explained his decision to retire was led by a few different factors. He explained his wife has been retired “for almost two years, so she’s kind of ready to see what’s next.” He added, “I turned 60 this year, I reached the retirement max a year ago, so those things become a factor.”

 Another factor, he said, was the amount of projects that will need to be taken care of within the district in the coming years. He said, “Then I also look at, there’s a lot of things that need to get done and I just don’t think I have three more years in me to do that. It just comes that time.”

In his retirement, he said he plans to travel with his wife and spend time at their home on Cape Cod.

Lemanski said he wants his successor to “continue what I’m doing,” but to put their own spin on it with their own ideas. Ultimately, though, he said he feels “confident to step down” and praised the work the administrators have done so far on issues such as redistricting.

Lemanski said, “Agawam has just been a wonderful place.” He recalled giving 150 students academic A’s at the most recent school committee meeting, which he said he’s been a part of since its inception. “That really brings you back, when you’re up there and arranging the kids on the stage I was thinking at that time, ‘Wow, this is a part I’ll miss,’” he said.

He added, “Agawam is a pretty unique district I think, cause it’s not Springfield, it’s not Holyoke, it’s not Chicopee, and not to put those down, but it’s a really nice community with a lot of potential.”

And while he’ll miss his work and coworkers, he said, “Everybody’s time comes and that’s fine with me. I’m good with it, and looking forward to it.”

Lemanski’s contract will end on June 30, and on July 1 he will retire.