By James Day
Silverton High Athletic Director Andy Jones has received a national honor.
Jones, who is finishing his first school year as AD of the Foxes, was given the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) state merit award at the Oregon Athletic Directors Association (OADA) conference on April 17 in Sunriver.
The award also represents Jones’ achievements at previous stops such as Oregon City and North Marion as well as Silverton during his nearly 30-year career. He was the lone Oregon honoree this year.
Jones, who replaced James Rise, now at Cascade, was a 1978 Silverton High graduate. Most recently Jones served as AD at Oregon City, where he was Oregon School Activities Association Class 6A athletic director of the year in 2022. Jones received a similar honor in 2012 for Class 4A when he was at North Marion. Jones also has served as teacher, coach and AD in Mount Angel and at then-Mark Twain Middle School in Silverton.
“It is a very humbling experience,” Jones told Our Town. “The fact that it is a national award, makes it even more humbling. No one becomes an educator to win awards. The rewards of educator are on a completely different level. They are more intrinsic. What this award means is that I surrounded myself with great people who had the same vision and passion as I do and working together we had many positive outcomes.”
Jones also noted during an email interview some already-in-place improvements at Silverton and some on the drawing board.
“I formed (in January) an Athletic Advisory Committee that is composed of Silverton residents,” he said. “My goal for this committee is to bridge the gap between the high school programs and youth programs, utilize our resources for facility upgrades that a school budget can’t do, and create an environment where we are all working together for the betterment of the Silverton youth, regardless of their age.”
Projects at Silverton being discussed include a 120×100 field house (in conjunction with local youth baseball and softball programs), a new press box at McGinnis Field, and a new sound system at McGinnis as well as turf fields for the high school campus that would serve both high school and youth teams.
“Silverton is one of the greatest communities around and while there may be challenges, and the opportunities are limitless,” Jones said. “There is so much support, tradition, and alumni in our community that we can make anything imaginable happen.”
