Good afternoon Hawk Nation,
I hope everyone was able to enjoy a restful winter break. We have exciting news to share with the UMS community. Mr. Bokinsky, one of our assistant principals, has accepted a new position within FCPS at the central office level. Mr. Bokinsky will be remaining at UMS until the end of the first semester. We wish Mr. Bokinsky all the best and are thankful for his service at UMS.
UMS is fortunate in that Mr. Bokinsky’s replacement is an established assistant principal in FCPS. Mr. Hand will be joining the Hawk family on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. This is the first day of the second semester. I had the pleasure of recently speaking with Mr. Hand with regards to his professional experiences and the transitional game plan for his move from Oakdale Middle School to Urbana Middle School. After speaking with Mr. Hand, I believe he will be able to jump right in and be a valuable contributing member of the UMS administrative team. Here are some facts I learned about Mr. Hand and I thought it would be a nice way to introduce him to the UMS community:
Mr. Hand is a father of three, Maya - 21, Ana - 19, and Nathaniel - 16.
Mr. Hand is currently serving the second half of a Taneytown Councilman position where he lives in northern Carroll County. Mr. Hand is excited to be testing at the start of the new year for his second-degree brown belt in Kenpo Karate.
Mr. Hand started in education in 1996. From 1997 to 2011, he taught science [and some Algebra] in both public and independent schools in Montgomery County. For 3 of those years, he served as a Dean of Students at an AIMS college preparatory high school. After many years of tail lights on I-270, Mr. Hand decided to join the FCPS family.
Mr. Hand has taught science at Thurmont Middle School and has served as an administrator at the Classical Charter School. He is currently serving as an assistant principal at Oakdale Middle School. Mr. Hand looks forward to joining the Urbana Middle School family. Mr. Hand stated that he has heard so many wonderful things about UMS and its community. He is looking forward to serving all of the stakeholders of UMS.
Respectfully,
Drew Kibler
Principal