Beauchamp taking top job at Stigler

Assistant Superintendent Adam Beauchamp announced that he’ll be leaving Clinton Public Schools effective July 1, after accepting a position this week as superintendent of Stigler Public Schools. 
Clinton Public Schools’ leadership is gaining a reputation for grooming administrators for other districts. Beauchamp will be the third assistant superintendent to leave for a position as superintendent at another district. Beauchamp’s predecessor, Tyler Bridges, left to take a prestigious position with the K20 Research Center at the University of Oklahoma. 
As hard as it will be to lose his current assistant in just two years, Superintendent Kevin Hime is okay with that. 
“It says a lot about the people here, the whole leadership team and the people we work with,” said Hime. “Everyone who has left here has gone on to be very successful. Hopefully we can find someone within the next month or so, which will help with the transition.”
Beauchamp said he and his wife are both from eastern Oklahoma, and in fact met while they were both in college at Tahlequah. Being closer to family and friends was a big factor in his decision to take over in Stigler. 
“We’ve always known we wanted to get back to eastern Oklahoma,” he said. “There have been jobs open up in other areas (of the state) but we really had an area targeted where we wanted to be.
“The lake house Robin and I and the girls have been going to for 20-plus years is just 40 minutes north of Stigler on Lake Tenkiller, her grandparents are both from Poteau, and her mom graduated from there. So when you talk about getting back to where you’re from and the people you know, this definitely fits that bill.”
Eventually becoming a superintendent has always been a professional goal of his since Beauchamp became an administrator, and he’s learned a lot from Hime, he said. 
“I don’t know if you’re ever really prepared for a job until you take it, but I’ve definitely had some great preparation. Kevin Hime is known for being a good mentor when it comes to being a superintendent and running a school district. 
“At the superintendent level he could have easily put me in a closet, but he has really and truly allowed me to be involved at the district level and learn things that I feel have prepared me to lead a district.” 
Beauchamp and his wife are looking at Stigler as a place where they can put down roots. They plan to raise their daughters to become Stigler Panthers and graduate from high school there.
But that doesn’t mean it will be easy for them to leave Clinton.
“In not even two years’ time, Clinton has really opened up to us. Both professionally and personally, we’ve really felt connected. It’s been a great place to be and it’s a hard place to leave,” said Beauchamp.
“We’ve made some true, genuine friendships with people we’ve met here, people that we’re going to know forever.”