An Addition to Our Admin Team: Adam Tenbarge

If you’ve looked at our staff directory this year, you may have noticed a new name amongst the admin team. Adam Tenbarge, our new principal intern, started as an English teacher before making the switch to working in administration. 

“I taught English for 17 years,” Tenbarge said. “I chose to teach because I liked seeing the growth in students and seeing them mature and come into their own. I always enjoyed that part. Administration was something I always kind of wanted to pursue. South Bend was happy to give me the opportunity and I accepted.” 

Mr. Tenbarge is from Huntingburg, a city in the southern portion of Indiana, close to Evansville. After high school, he went to Indiana University where he did his bachelor’s and met his wife. After graduating from IU, he and his wife moved to northwest Indiana where he started his teaching career at Lake Central High School, teaching English. He taught there for about 11 years before moving to Chesterton and teaching at Chesterton High School. He spent the past six years teaching there before taking a job in administration here in South Bend.

He currently still lives in Chesterton, which is an hour commute every day for him. That’s dedication!

After asking him how he ended up here at Riley, Tenbarge responded, “I was looking for an opportunity to practice using my administrative degree. I ended up having an interview with South Bend Schools and they told me about this intern program where they were hoping to pair prospective administrators with strong principals. They eventually offered me the job and paired me with Mr. Henderson here at Riley.”

He chose to switch from teaching to administration to help more students succeed and give staff more of the support they need to help educate students. 

“I want to cast a wider net—so to speak—to be able to touch more students, and help staff better work with students,” Tenbarge responded. 

So far, Mr. Tenbarge has really enjoyed his time here at Riley and has been impressed with different aspects of the school.

“I’ve been really impressed with the pride there is in the school. In the activities that students do, you can definitely tell that they are proud to be Riley students and that they are proud to represent the south side,” he observed. “I also think there is a lot of buy-in from our staff. They have good relationships with their students, want to see them succeed and they’re willing to go the extra length to give them those opportunities.” 

“A handful of staff also went to Riley when they were in high school as well. I think that also plays into your point,” I added.

“Coming from outside the district, that’s unusual to see—to have so many people that are alumni of a school, come back and want to give back. That’s something very special,” Tenbarge reflected. 

As far as working with staff, Mr. Tenbarge has enjoyed it and has yet again been impressed. 

“It’s a tough time to teach right now and I have been very impressed switch with how our teachers have come in and dedicated themselves to trying to make today better than yesterday. We’ve seen growth from both students and staff, as well as our school community as a whole, and as we’ve gone through the first quarter into the second quarter, we have definitely seen strides made,” Tenbarge said, “And teachers’ willingness to pitch in and cover for another teacher who can’t be here due to sickness or something else going on is great to see.” 

Working with students and getting to see their talents and all that they’re interested in has been great for him as well. 

“I’m really impressed with just how many different things that you all are interested in and the different talents you have. I feel like there is a lot here at Riley to be involved in,” Tenbarge answered. “Particularly our CTE programs and our STEM programs are really cool. Our music programs have been really fun to see and hear too. I’m looking forward to seeing the concerts once they startup.”

He also says the same about our sports programs too.

“The cool part about seeing all the sports teams is seeing you all support one another; our student sections have been amazing.” 

One of Mr. Tenbarge’s favorite things about Riley is one you might not completely expect.

“The coolest thing, and I’ve seen it a couple of times at the beginning of the year, is when we had our drumline out in the atrium in the morning,” he responded. “It was also really cool getting to see our fall pep rally. It’s been a while since I’ve taught at a really big district with a lot of students so it’s been a while since I’ve seen at full capacity.”

Despite all of the great things he has gotten to take part in as an admin, there are still some things he has to miss out on. 

“I’ve coached football, wrestling, basketball; I’ve been a sponsor for a number of different clubs but the hard part is that when you volunteer to be a part of all of the activities, but you’re also an administrator, that takes away from being apart of those activities so unfortunately, I can’t really be apart of them.,” Tenbarge responded, “That’s something I’ve missed, bein gin the trench with those students, as a sponsor or as a coach, all going towards one goal. That’s special, and that’s been hard to not be a part of.” 

Overall, Mr. Tenbarge has really enjoyed his time here so far at Riley and is excited for what the rest of the year has in store.