Retiring Principal Reflects on School's Success

John Bereska stood on the track surrounding UMBC's artificial turf stadium  Tuesday night, much as he had during the previous four lacrosse seasons at this time of  spring.

The 60-year-old Hereford High School principal once again basked in the glory of the Bulls' victorious boys' lacrosse team, winner of its fourth straight Class 3A-2A state title with a 14-7 victory over Middletown High School.

Only this time, it would be Bereska's last championship game --  at least in his role as Hereford's principal.

About a week ago, Bereska announced he was stepping down from the post.

"I've spent a lot of time with a lot of other people's children, and it's time for me to spend time with my own and with my grand kid. It takes a lot to do the job, it really does. It's time for me to have some 'me' time," he said.

Bereska's wife, Carolyn, is also retiring from her job as a third-grade teacher at Cromwell Valley Elementary School.

"Carolyn is retiring after 39 years, and I've been doing this for 38 years," Bereska said. "It was a super tough decision, and I really didn't make it until about last week. I thought long and hard about it until last Wednesday, and I sent out an email to everyone, and now, everybody knows."

Bereska ends an 11-year tenure at Hereford during which he took pride in melding athletics with academics.

"Academics and athletics, they go together. The Hereford teams, like this lacrosse team, they can't play like this unless they're smart kids," Bereska said, as the Bulls' lacrosse team left the field after receiving the championship trophy.

That's the case with senior attack man Tyler Dimes, whose game-high five goals to go with two assists raised his season total to 97 points.

Dimes carries a weighted 4.3 grade point average in a curriculum that included advanced placement physics and calculus. He scored a 1900 on his SATs and is headed for the University of Delaware, where he will major in engineering. He does not plan on playing lacrosse in college.

Dimes said he chose to remain in the Hereford district rather than enter one of the Baltimore area's top lacrosse private schools.

"One thing that does help us is that we do actually have a very good school. Hereford is a great school, so parents bring their kids in here, and they move in here," Dimes said.

During Bereska's tenure, the Bulls have won titles in boys lacrosse (2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), girls lacrosse (2001, 2002, 2003, 2009), field hockey (2001, 2004, 2006, 2009), football (2001, 2002), girls cross country (2004, 2005), boys cross country (2010) and girls soccer (2000).

"As far as our academics and our scores and our athletics, we'll put those up against any private school athletic program," Bereska said. "We treat the kids like you would be treated at a private school. We treat them with dignity, but you also expect them to act accordingly."

And Bereska is sure going to miss his time at Hereford.

"I'll always say that Hereford's a very special place, and what makes it are the kids. You have to have a certain standard to live up to," Bereska said. "They want to be good. They want to represent the school well, and so they do."