“Good afternoon Lake Braddock, just a couple of quick announcements,” a voice reads from a speaker on a Friday afternoon. However, at the end of 2014, that voice will be leaving the halls of LB. Mark Martino, the long-time activities director, will be retiring from his position at the end of the year, ending a long chapter in the school’s history books.

Martino has worked here for the last 23 years, over half the time LB has been open. For 10 years, Martino’s time here was spent as an English teacher and boys’ basketball coach, and for the last 13 years he has worked as the student activities director. However, at the end of December, Martino will be moving on to another job, one that remains connected to Fairfax County and athletics, but not directly connected to FCPS.

“There’s an opportunity for me to do something else,” Martino said. “Not within [FCPS] but within athletic services in the Fairfax County government.”

Martino describes his position as one that manages field usage between the various community organizations and the schools. With multiple youth clubs requiring a field for their activities, time slots must be assigned for each group.

“I’ll be working with a group called Neighborhood and Community Services,” Martino said. “It’s the group that schedules all the fields for Burke Athletic Club, Springfield Youth Association, Chantilly Youth Association and making sure that they get the fields and schools get what they want.”

Because he has spent so much time here, Martino finds it hard knowing that he will be leaving the halls and students of LB, despite the opportunity that his new position offers him.

“It’s going to be really difficult to leave the school system and to leave LB and the student-athletes,” Martino said. “I’ve been here for so long it’s part of my life.”

Martino’s replacement has not yet been determined, as his position is one that requires multiple interviews in order to find a candidate with the most merit. One obvious candidate would be his assistant, Michael Clark.

“We work in conjunction with one another,” Clark said. “Some of the things that I do are some of the things he does as activities director.”
However, a job as important as Martino’s requires advertisement in order to give any applicant an opportunity.

“The job will be advertised and then [the applicants will interview],” Martino said. “We hope to have somebody in place before I go so there can be a transition.”

Martino describes his new job as one that was too difficult to turn down, and so he will be moving come January.

Martino’s departure will have a lasting impact on many of the LB staff. Girls’ track coach and 10th grade gym teacher Robert Digby has been a longtime friend of Martino’s and will miss him after he leaves.

“He’s done it all,” Digby said. “(He’s been a) teacher, coach, administrator, and he’s been an awesome for us. Of course I’m sad that he’s leaving (because) he’s a good friend of mine, but I wish him well.”

Martino’s departure will be a bittersweet moment for him, as he said that he considers himself fortunate because of the opportunity he had to watch students compete athletically and academically, he said.

“It truly is, I think, the best job in the school system,” he said.