Jim Markosian steps down as SJB principal

Friday, Jun. 17, 2016

DRAPER — After 36 years as a teacher and administrator, Saint John the Baptist Middle School Principal Jim Markosian is leaving education, but not the campus – he will remain as facilities manager at the Skaggs Catholic Center.

“He had a great reputation as a teacher; kids who had him as a teacher loved him,” said Mark Longe, Utah Catholic Schools superintendent, who has known Markosian throughout his career.

Several of Markosian’s former students now teach in the diocese, and he was “one of the teachers perhaps that caused students to come back into our system and teach,” Longe said.

Markosian began his career in 1980 as a geography teacher at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. Over the next 13 years, he taught everything from archeology and world geography to study skills and fly fishing in the summer. In the early 1990s he obtained a master’s degree in administration from the University of Utah and spent five years as the Dean of Discipline at Judge Memorial before becoming principal at Blessed Sacrament School in Sandy. After five years there, he transferred to St. John the Baptist Middle School, where he served first as vice principal and then as principal.

“He’s been in all areas of Catholic education,” Longe said, adding that Markosian is very passionate about Catholic education. “He sees the benefit of a Catholic education and he worked very hard with parents and teachers so that he could have successful students, not just academically but socially and spiritually.” 

Although Markosian had opportunities to take positions outside of Utah Catholic Schools, “I’ve always chosen to stay and try to improve the system from within and try to effect positive change because I see that as a great mission in my work life,” he said. “I think we’ve got great schools, we’ve got great families, we’ve got great kids, and trying to do something positive from within, to try to make them better – that’s always appealed to me more than chasing the dollar or looking for a better job or a different job or what-have-you.”

Markosian said being principal at Blessed Sacrament School was difficult for him because his experience and talent lie in working with students in grades 6 through 12, so “I didn’t feel I was as much help as I could have been,” while at the middle school and high school levels “I feel like I can help teachers, I feel I can relate to kids better.” 

He enjoys being able to incorporate the middle school model in a Catholic setting to work with children academically, socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually, he said. “Kids this age are capable of so much academically and spiritually.”

Throughout his years as an administrator, Markosian continued to teach at least one class, but with the move to the position of facilities manager he will no longer be in the classroom, he said. However, he will continue to serve as head coach of the Juan Diego Catholic High School freshman football team, he said. 

He is looking forward to the job change. “Every five to ten years of my career I’ve found it really helpful to do something different,” he said, and “after 12, 13 years here I think I’ve effected the change that I can effect. I’m proud of what we’ve done here. …  I had a lot of help, with good people.”