Medway High School’s field got an upgrade this year — a project that began the day after graduation in June and wrapped up just this week. Tonight was the first football game on the new turf, and it couldn’t have been more fitting. Senior Night, the youth leagues joining in, and a rededication ceremony to honor Joseph P. Hanlon before kickoff.

Mr. Hanlon passed away in August, but his presence was everywhere tonight. His wife and family were there, his grandkids ran with the youth teams, and they joined for the coin toss — a perfect tribute to a man who gave so much to this community.

I’ll miss seeing him at the games. We stayed in touch after he was my assistant principal in high school. He was a great example of dedication to our schools, even long after his retirement. His name was, and will always be, part of the field — his field — and it couldn’t be more deserved.

Mustangs won 15-0.

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John D. McGovern was my elementary school principal — K through 6th grade at North School in Medway. I was four when I started there. I still remember the day my mother brought me to enroll me. I stood right on the other side of the glass you see in this photo, excited for school— the mural wasn’t there yet, but that same wooden wall was.

He was a tall, intimidating man to a little kid, but I remember him as stern, fair, and kind. Always in a suit. My mom worked in the lunchroom, and they were friends, so I got to know Mr. McGovern a bit outside the classroom, too. He was always sharply dressed, always composed, the kind of person who seemed to command respect no matter your age. He left an impression, at least, on me.

Today, I was back in that same school — this time as the photographer. It’s now called The McGovern School, named in his honor, and though a few things have changed — the mural is new, and his portrait now hangs on a wall that didn’t exist when I was a kid — so much of it feels the same, just shorter. I even set up my lights in the lunchroom where my mom once worked.

It was a great ending to my first round of Medway district school photos, where it all began for me. My first school. My first principal. My first real memories. I loved that place — not saying I peaked in elementary school — but I did win Friendliest Boy in sixth grade, and have ridden that award as far as I can, it might even be on my CV.

When I was a six-year-old first grader, I thought Mr. McGovern was the oldest man alive. Today, standing in his school, I did the math and I realized I’m now the same age he was when I was in first grade. Makes me wonder what the kids I photographed thought of me.

Full circle.

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