History Instructor Mr. James Bononno has been recently appointed the position as Acting Assistant Principal of Becton Regional High School by the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Board of Education.

When asked if he would be willing to take on the role by Acting Superintendent/Principal Dr. Sforza, Mr. Bononno was at first not sure how to react, but excitedly agreed and could not wait to do his best.

Mr. Bononno has been a history teacher at Becton Regional High School for 29 years and mentioned how teaching has always been his first passion. He fulfilled the role as Becton’s Athletic Director for one decade, and additionally, was head coach of the high school’s football team and the boys and girls track teams for many years. Moreover, he coached junior varsity baseball for three years and was the Student Council adviser for four years. 

The Acting Assistant Principal believes that he is qualified for this position because other than acquiring the proper certification from the state of New Jersey, he noted, “the thing that makes anyone qualified to do anything in life is passion for what one does and the ability to be open to learning.”

Mr. Bononno’s favorite aspect of accepting this new position is working closely with the school’s staff and administration on a mutual vision of what they want Becton Regional High School to look like. On the other hand, his biggest challenge is learning the system from a new perspective. “There’s a learning curve for every new position, but navigating through that has been exciting and fun.”

Mr. Bononno finds it very difficult to name one person that has prepared him for his new role; however, Acting Superintendent/Principal Dr. Sforza has been incredibly supportive and took much of his time to show him what he needed to know. If he had to choose a key mentor throughout his teaching career, it would be former Becton Science Teacher Mr. James Williams who recently had Becton’s auditorium named after him. “It takes a village to raise a kid, and it takes a community to prepare or support anyone of us in the building,” he added.

Overall, Mr. Bononno believes the feedback in regard to his new position has been very positive. He feels very fortunate to work with great people on a daily basis who have been very supportive of him. In fact, he noted that he has the best supportive students in the state.

“The motivation on a daily basis is the same as when I walked into my classroom every day. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to continue to create a positive environment, whether it be in the classroom or throughout the school as a whole, and to be a part of an atmosphere where we can work with each other,” said the Acting Assistant Principal.

His favorite aspect of currently being an assistant principal as well as a teacher is being able to interact with students in the cafeteria, hallways, and classrooms as well as collaborate with the school’s administration and staff.

Mr. Bononno is looking forward to learning the basics of his job on a personal level so that he could try to move on to excelling at it. “And again, I look forward to working with the students, staff, and administration collectively to continually improve our school culture.”

At the moment, the Acting Assistant Principal’s plan is to make his office a safe and sacred environment for students to visit whenever they need something instead of it just being a place where students are required to visit when they get into trouble.