A SPAC-tacular exit

It started as a modest proposal, seven years ago, by a pair of American history students who wanted a club to help voice their political views.

When teacher Phil D’Agostino called the first meeting of the Student Political Action Committee at Newport Harbor High School, it drew only a handful of members.

Over the years, though, the club’s personnel — and resume — grew. The committee hosted blood drives and Memorial Day ceremonies, rounded up civic leaders for town meetings and led a successful campaign to add pedestrian signs around the school.

Now, this fall, an era comes to a close at Newport Harbor. D’Agostino, who has led the committee since its inception, is moving across the district to serve as assistant principal of Estancia High School.

“It’s the next step in my career, I think,” D’Agostino said. “Having done two years of summer school as an assistant principal, I think I’m ready to take on the challenge of high school. Estancia is a great place. They have great staff, great administrators and I’m looking forward to learning from the faculty there.”

The Student Political Action Committee — known to many by its acronym, “SPAC” — will continue at Newport Harbor, although the school has not yet appointed a new advisor. D’Agostino’s departure caps seven of the most productive years for any club in the district. The committee, which launched in 1999, grabbed the community’s attention that year when it hosted a town meeting on Newport-Mesa’s zero-tolerance policy. In 2001 and 2005, the committee held additional forums to debate expanding parking around Newport Harbor, a school with chronic traffic problems.

Students who served on the committeesaid D’Agostino often entrusted them to carry out projects. Still, the advisor gave a boost to students who were new to political activism.

“He was everything that made a really great advisor and a really great leader,” said Heidi Schultheis, who led the club’s community outreach committee before graduating in 2005. “He could be really demanding of us, but he was really encouraging. As much as he asked a lot of us, he contributed a lot of his own time and effort. That’s just who he is.”

“He gave us a lot of independence, which makes you a better leader,” said Laure Kohne, last year’s president. “He pushes you really hard, and I think that’s why we were as good as we were last year.”

At Estancia, D’Agostino will replace Assistant Principal Sean Boulton, who is moving out of the district this fall. Newport Harbor Assistant Principal Dave Martinez said D’Agostino’s history of leadership would serve him well as an administrator.

“He’s going to be missed, no doubt, because he’s done so many proactive things,” Martinez said. “That’s why he interviewed as well as he did.”