Montpelier -- New Vermont Principals Association executive director Ken Page brings 36 years of combined teaching and administrative experience, but his passion for athletics began during his days as a reading teacher and coach at Lebanon Junior High School.

Page, 58, got his educational start at LJHS (1973-75), where he coached football and basketball. He's gone on to be involved in athletics in some capacity during the rest of his career, including 12 years as a softball coach at Union-32 and eight as the athletic director at Calais Elementary School.

“I coached a lot of athletes that I'm sure went on to have great school careers (at Lebanon High),” Page said in a phone interview yesterday. “Kids like Richard Tobin, Gary Broughall … That was my first teaching job; I was 22 years old. Working with those kids, great kids, is really what got me hooked on athletics.”

Page, who lives less than three miles from VPA's headquarters, has 21 combined years experience as an elementary school principal, starting at Calais and finishing at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury, Vt. He has bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Vermont.

Page thinks balancing the VPA budget and strategic planning will be the primary challenges entering his first term.

“We're affiliated with 85 percent of the principals in the state, and the financial pressure on all of them right now is immense,” Page said. “As a nonprofit, it's going to be tough, but we're actually doing well financially and we want the principals of Vermont schools to know that we’re there for them.”

Page was selected from 15 applicants into a group of three semifinalists for the position, then chosen by the VPA Executive Council. His annual salary is $90,000, according to VPA President Laurie Singer.

Page went in for his second interview for the VPA position just three days after retiring from his administrative career, but said he's ready for the new challenge.

“I never wanted to get away entirely from education, I just wasn't necessarily looking for something fulltime anymore,” he said. “But this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, to stay involved with an organization like the VPA.”

Page replaces Bob Stevens, who had served since 2006, when he replaced the late Ray Pelligrini.

Preston to Return Part-Time: Linda Preston appears set to return to Lebanon Junior High School next year as a part-time athletic director.

Lebanon School Superintendent Mike Harris confirmed this week that he and Preston, who recently retired from her health and physical education teaching position at LJHS after 35 years, “seemed to have reached an agreement” for her to continue at the school. In addition to teaching and coaching several sports teams at LJHS, Preston has served as the building's athletic director for the past seven years.

Harris said that Preston would work about five hours a day during the full school year as the junior high's athletic director.

Speaking with the Valley News last month as Preston's teaching retirement approached, Harris expressed confidence that he'd be able to keep her on at LJHS in a part-time capacity.

“I greatly enjoy and would miss going to talk to her about kids she knows and how they're continuing to do in high school,” Harris said at that time. “Losing her as a physical education teacher and all that respect and credibility would be a loss to the district (if she left completely).”

Preston is a 1970 graduate of Lebanon High School and a 1974 graduate of Plymouth State College.

1,000-Pointers Dot Twin-State Lineups: This year's Rotary Twin-State Basketball Classic will include several players who registered their 1,000th career points for Upper Valley teams last winter. The top three scorers in the Upper Valley will suit up for the annual all-star gala, including Hartford's Logan White (21.2 points per game) and Jason Gray of Thetford (17.8 ppg) for the Vermont boys and Mascoma's Josh Poland (18.3 ppg) for New Hampshire. All three players registered their 1,000th career points last winter. Kearsarge’s Sam Young also suits up for New Hampshire.

Hanover center Courtney Ness (11.8 ppg) will play for the New Hampshire girls.

The Rotary Twin-State Classic will be held July 11 at the University of Vermont's Patrick Gymnasium. The girls' game tips off at 1 p.m., followed by the boys at 3.

New Hampshire Softball All-Stars Named: Mascoma pitcher and infielder Jessica Ovitt was named to the N.H. Class M All-state first team, while Woodsville third baseman Morgan Maerder made the first team for Class S.

In Class I, Hanover catcher Kelly Wood made the second team and Lebanon left fielder Sarah Fittro was an honorable mention.

Newport pitcher/second baseman Kendra Campbell and Stevens shortstop Elissa Coburn both made the Class M second team.

Gingras Goes for Title: Claremont native Rich Gingras will vie for his first professional title fight July 17, when he takes on Tim “The Hammer” Flamos for the Eastern Boxing Association cruiserweight title, headlining a Pro-Am show at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

Gingras and Flamos -- both featured on The Contender reality boxing series on the Versus network last winter -- will fight in the eight-round co-main event.

Gingras (9-2, five knockouts) and Flamos (20-6-2, eight knockouts) will share the main event with the EBA New England lightweight championship match between Eddie Soto and challenger Sean Eklund.

The first bout is at 6 p.m. To view the full card or order tickets, visit www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com. To order by phone, call (877) 82-RIVER.

Staff Writer Greg Fennell contributed to this report.