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Bass are calling to principal Halcomb
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE LECANTO -- After 21 years as the principal of Lecanto Middle School, James Halcomb is retiring. And the local bass population had better watch out. Halcomb's official last day is today. His retirement plans include staying involved in the six civic organizations to which he belongs. He says he wants to be a positive community activist. Halcomb plans to spend time caring for his parents, who live nearby. Much of his free time, he hopes, will be spent tormenting the bass in local waterways. Halcomb said he had set a local record for largemouth bass in 1981 and, as far as he knows, no one has surpassed it. The next step is to catch the biggest largemouth bass in the state and from there "on to the world record," he said. Halcomb went to Lecanto Middle in February 1981 after teaching math, science and social studies at Inverness Middle School for three years. The county's newest middle school was being built and Halcomb was hired to help set it up. When LMS opened, it housed the middle school grades, 6, 7 and 8, as well as, the first year of high school for the soon-to-be-built Lecanto High. This made Halcomb a middle/high school principal. A grade was added each year until a full high school was established. The transition into the adjacent high school occurred during the first senior year, Halcomb recalled. He said he was asked to move to the high school, but he requested to stay at the middle school. After having been at the middle school for so long, Halcomb said, "I think I will miss all of the stakeholders, really. It's been my home." It has been so much a part of his life, he said, that he won't be surprised if one day he goes out for breakfast and winds up at LMS. Halcomb earned his bachelor of science degree and master of arts and educational degrees at Western Kentucky University. He was an elementary school principal for one year and a middle school principal for two years in Kentucky before coming to Florida in 1978. Students from LMS wrote a biography and tribute to Halcomb for their yearbook. They said: "We at Lecanto Middle School would like to pay a special tribute to our very own principal, Mr. James Holcomb. He has taught elementary, middle, high school, and adult education. "He has been in education over 32 years and this is his 24th year as a principal. We are very fortunate to have Mr. Halcomb as our principal. We appreciate his dedication to everyone at Lecanto Middle. "He is truly a great educator and child advocate. Thank you, Mr. Halcomb, for all that you do to help make Lecanto Middle School GREAT!"
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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