Valley school board removes interim tag, names Kim Johnson full-time AD

By: Michael Love
Monday, June 13, 2022 | 5:16 PM

For two months this spring, Kim Johnson balanced her duties as a ninth-grade honors biology and AP biology teacher at Valley High School with newly gained responsibilities as the interim athletic director after the resignation of Muzzy Colosimo in March.

Through her work with the spring sports teams and advanced work with scheduling, inventory and eligibility — things she called challenging and rewarding — Johnson knew she wanted to continue in the position.

Last week, the Valley School Board of Directors agreed.

Johnson was hired by an 8-0 vote to continue as Valley’s athletic director for the upcoming academic year. She plans to continue teaching and will remain the Vikings swim coach, noting there are “plenty of hours in the day to accommodate the jobs.”

“I am grateful for the confidence of the superintendent and the school board and the support of the coaches, student-athletes, parents and the faculty,” Johnson said. “It truly takes the support of the whole school system to supervise an athletic program.

School board president Tim Beckes, who also serves as the Valley girls soccer coach, said he’s excited to have Johnson continue as athletic director.

“She did a great job jumping in and taking charge,” he said. “She has a really good sense of organization and structure about her. She picked up on the scheduling, inventory and a number of other things. We had a really good spring season with a lot of strong performances. There was a lot of positive energy this spring and also that same energy moving forward. She knows the kids and knows what needs to be done to give them the best possible opportunity to succeed.”

The usual summertime workload of coordinating the use of facilities, scheduling and other aspects of preparing for the upcoming fall season — preseason practices begin Aug. 15 — are prevalent in Johnson’s daily schedule.

“I am trying to work through each season one at a time, one day at a time,” she said.

Johnson also noted plans are in motion to launch an updated athletics web page in the coming weeks.

The athletic department, Johnson added, is starting a sports information club with plans to have students post photos, updates and news to media outlets and various social media platforms in an effort to increase exposure for individual and team accomplishments.

Valley again will offer soccer, football, girls volleyball, golf and girls tennis this fall. Dave Heavner is the new Vikings football coach, replacing Colosimo, who resigned at the end of last season.

Also Mark Diehm will be the new girls tennis coach, taking over for Rachael Link.

Link will remain the Valley boys tennis coach in the spring.

After a strong spring for Valley student-athletes, Johnson is looking forward to what lies ahead.

“I am thrilled by the accomplishments of the spring athletic teams, athletes, and coaches,” she said. “The boys’ tennis and softball teams both qualified for the WPIAL team playoffs. We had two athletes (senior Amari Peterson and junior Jayden Richter) qualify for the WPIAL track meet. We had multiple softball/baseball players recognized by the Trib. Our athletes in all seasons are an excellent group of boys and girls. We are so proud to have them representing our Viking family.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Valley