A team player – Shadoff will retire in June; run for Lynn School Committee in Sept. 2011

Eddie Shadoff has lived in Lynn his whole life and worked in the city’s school system for 35 years, the last four as the director of athletics at Lynn Tech.

Shadoff will conclude the teaching and administrative part of his career when he retires in June, 2011, but he hopes to stay involved in the Lynn schools in a major way after that.

Shadoff announced Monday that he will be a candidate for a seat on the Lynn School Committee in the Sept., 2011 city election.

“The reason I’m running for School Committee is that I want to give back to the youth of Lynn,” said Shadoff.

He cited a few past administrators who have stepped forward after their careers in education to serve on the School Committee.

“Former Lynn Schools Superintendent Dr. Leo McGuinness, former Deputy Superintendent Edward Johns, former Pickering Principal William McGuinness, former Connery Vice Principal Arthur Fiste, and former Lynn Woods and Connery Principal Vincent Spirito, a current member of the committee, are great examples,” said Shadoff. “I’m not equating what I’ve done with what they’ve done professionally, but these are all legitimate people that had high jobs and ran successfully for School Committee after they retired. I’ve seen the satisfaction that they experienced from still being involved in education. Being on the school committee is a great way to stay involved and to continue to help students.”

Shadoff said as he winds down his career at Tech, he has a lot of positive memories.

“What I’m most proud of in my professional life is that in nine of the last 11 years, I’ve been voted male teacher of the year at Lynn Tech by distinct and separate senior classes in their yearboook,” said Shadoff.

Shadoff has been a high school basketball referee for 32 years, a position he vacated upon his appointment as director of athletics at Tech. During his outstanding career, Shadoff refereed 22 state and New England prep and high school finals.

Shadoff is deeply rooted in the Lynn community. He grew up on the third floor of a three-decker on Neptune Street in the spot where the Lynn Tech school annex now sits. At the age of five, his family moved to Whittier Street behind Lynn City Hall.

“My parents [Dave and Lena Shadoff] really instilled education in my brother, Michael, and me,” said Shadoff. “My brother is a pharmacist by trade and I’m a teacher and athletic director. Our parents always wanted us to get ahead through education.”

Shadoff graduated from Lynn Classical in 1970 and received his degree from Salem State College where he has also taken graduate courses.

Shadoff credits former Classical teacher and principal Peter Arslanian for his guidance, first when he was a student of his, and later when he became a history teacher at Classical.

“It was Mr. Arslanian who took me under his wing,” said Shadoff.

After his teaching career, Shadoff moved in to the Tech athletic director’s seat, succeeding Dave Johnson. Shadoff, who loves sports, was right at home at the helm of an athletic program.

“I want to thank Dr. Brian Coughlin for appointing me as athletic director,” said Shadoff. “And I have to thank [former Tech Principal] Jim Ridley, who is a wonderful person also, for allowing me the freedom and the latitude to do my job without any interference. And Caroline Hall, the vice principal, always had faith in me and I’m grateful to her for that.”

Shadoff also thanked his attorney and friend, Bill Sheehan, for his support through the years.

Outside of Tech, Shadoff serves as vice president of the board of directors of Brotherhood Credit Union, located on Market Street in Lynn.

Shadoff and his wife, Sheryl, have been married for 31 years and have two children, Andrew, a 25-year-old graduate of Duke University and Duke University Law School who began a job Monday at a prestigious Beverly Hills law firm, and Landon, a 22-year-old graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in Animal Science who is working at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.

“I want to thank my wife, Sheryl, for 31 years of marriage and putting up with me, and especially doing a great job with our two sons, ” said Shadoff.

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