This story was written by Lia Salvatierra, our new Education Reporter. Find more of Lia’s reporting here. Do you have an NKY education story? Email lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
Campbell County Schools Superintendent Adam Ritter has had perfect attendance for the last two years.
Beginning his 19th year at the district and first as superintendent, he’s never missed a school play.
A Campbell County camel himself, Ritter said his life is anchored in his love for Campbell County and school.
He didn’t stray from the district long after he graduated — he was approached for a football coaching job at Donald E. Cline Middle School, now an elementary school, when starting college.
As with many longtime educators, coaching illuminated a career in teaching, and Ritter took a job after graduation as a business education teacher at Newport Independent Schools.
Ritter also served as a guidance counselor at Newport before returning again to Campbell County as the assistant principal of Campbell County High School.
He also served as high school principal before joining district administration.
Of all the jobs he’s held, serving as a guidance counselor was some of the best preparation he had to become an administrator, Ritter said.
“It’s not always black and white because you’re dealing with people, which creates a lot of grey area. I think in counseling you learn those things,” Ritter told LINK nky.
In that role, Ritter said he was given a mandate to help get kids to college.
But things have shifted since, he said.
Campbell County Schools and other districts are working to ensure all students are preparing for some type of postsecondary education, rather than just a four-year college.
Part of that means offering classes as part of an eventual career path as early as middle school — something Campbell County Schools has adopted.
The other part is staying in touch with what the industry is looking for.
Ritter said the biggest thing he’s heard from local industry partners is a need for soft skills.
That’s one of the reasons the district has adopted a new leadership framework for all its faculty, staff and students.
It’s based on a book called “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” that aims to help all individuals within the district set and achieve goals and overcome hurdles.
He hopes that sharing the framework with everyone will bring the entire community together under a common vision of preparing kids for life after school.
Ritter believes that’s his charge as superintendent.
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Even in his first six weeks in the role, he’s learned how to adapt quickly — such as narrowly escaping a storm-induced power outage on the first day of school last week, he laughed.
But mostly, he’s learned how important it is to be authentic, and to ensure people know who he is and why he’s spent decades in education.
One of those reasons came in the form of a gift hanging in his office — a hand-painted school portrait of a purple camel, from a former high school student.
“You don’t plan on getting a portrait of a camel,” he said.
And of those reasons walked up to his family at a restaurant — a former student thanking Ritter for pushing and coaching him through his challenges and ultimately into a successful career and family life.
“You do see them when they graduate, but you never really know if they got why you were pushing them and prodding them to get to the end,” Ritter said.
It was an emotional moment for Ritter, his family and the student.
“I think that’s what we do it for,” Ritter said.
“You do it for the impact that you have on those kids and the impact those kids have on the community we live in,” he said.
LINK nky’s education reporting is made possible by support from Report for America, EducateNKY, Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the R.C. Durr Foundation. To help LINK nky continue to provide this kind of reporting, you can make a tax-deductible donation here.