by Josh Averbach ’18

In an email to Sherwood’s staff, Principal Bill Gregory announced that he had hired Jason Woodward as the school’s new athletic director for next year, replacing Bonnie Gilchrist (Gilchrist will return to teaching), who served as acting athletic director after the unexpected passing of Walter Hardy last September.

“I am very excited to join the Sherwood teaching and athletic staff. Sherwood has a great group of hardworking coaches.  We share the same philosophies about our student-athletes being students first and athletes second,” said Woodward. Woodward also said he is particularly excited by Sherwood’s strong community and robust traditions, which are exemplified by the Warrior Club and Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival.

Gregory touted Woodward’s impressive record; MCPS has twice recognized Woodward as the Director of the year, and he won the statewide version of that award in 2016.

“Being an Athletic Director for 12 years, teaching at Gaithersburg for 18, and serving on many state and local committees has given me a wealth of knowledge on how to handle different situations. I have learned over the years how to help coaches become better communicators with their teams and how to work with parents and the community to fundraise for facility improvement,” said Woodward.

Gregory also announced that Marc Thomas will become the Health/PE resource teacher next year.