Although this school year has just begun, it is an end to the career of a beloved member of the staff at Fort Hamilton High School. Assistant Principal of Science, Mr. John Christakos, retired from his career as an educator and administrator on Friday, November 7th.
Mr. Christakos has been with Fort Hamilton long enough for him to call it home. He graduated from Fort in 1986 and later put his children through the school. He then became a science teacher and eventually an administrator.
Initially, Mr. Christakos did not plan to be a teacher; instead, he wished to enter the health field but needed both more experience and a master’s degree. After his third interview trying to find a job as a health professional, he bumped into an old teacher of his from Fort who would later offer him a job as a science teacher. This marked the beginning of Mr. Christakos’s career as an educator, during which time he helped both students and teachers in his department reach their full potential.
Mr. Lovrich, an AP Biology and microbiology teacher, credits Mr. Christakos’s level-headedness with creating the kind of professional environment in which his teachers and students could thrive.
“One phrase I would use to describe Mr. Christakos is ‘cool under pressure,’” Mr. Lovrich said. “He was able to deal with so many stressful situations and he always had it under control, making it seem like it didn’t even have an impact on him.”
Mr. Lovrich did not see Mr. Christakos as just a boss, but also a person he was able to talk to and feel supported by when times were stressful. He always felt more confident in his work when he had the guidance of Mr. Christakos.
“I can say that Mr. Christakos wasn’t just a boss to me but became a friend and a good one at that,” Mr. Lovrich said. “It always felt like you had someone on your side whether you were a teacher or a student with Mr. Christakos constantly supporting you.”
Likewise, Fort’s students felt that Mr. Christakos’s congeniality and approachability made their time at Fort Hamilton easier. Lawrence Lay, who graduated in June of this year, remembered the impact Mr. Christakos made on him at the end of his junior year.
“When I was deciding between whether I should take AP Chemistry or AP Biology at the beginning of my senior year, I had no clue on what to choose so I went over to ask Mr. Christakos for his advice,” Lay said.
Mr. Christakos was able to explain what each class was and how they could benefit students, and after a long talk, Lay decided to take AP Biology, a course he says challenged him in the best ways and prepared him for college.
Among Mr. Christakos’s strengths was his ability to counsel students and teachers alike. Mrs. Villany, a biology teacher and dean, was effusive in her praise of Mr. Christakos, whom she dubbed the “Guardian of the Science Galaxy.”
“Mr. Christakos has been a mentor for me during my entire teaching career,” she said. “I have looked up to him since I started student teaching here before I was officially a teacher. I’m now trying to live in his footsteps and will continue taking over his biomed class by making it fun and exciting for the students the way he did.”
Mr. Christakos feels equally as grateful for the community of which he has been a part for nearly four decades.
“I’ve been lucky to meet great teachers year after year after year,” he said.
Mr. Christakos credits much of his success to the teachers who assisted him along the way in his career and the school as a whole, always describing it as “the top school in New York City.” When he was inducted into the Fort Hamilton Alumni Hall of Fame in April of 2024, he delivered a speech in which he paid homage to the community of educators who fostered his intellectual curiosity and set him on the path to the career he loved so much.
“I don’t have to tell you how great Fort Hamilton is,” he said. “You’ve all experienced it in some way. I went there, my siblings went there, my cousins went there. There were so many people at Fort Hamilton I could turn to.”
Mr. Christakos’s legacy of mentorship, kindness and selflessness will not be forgotten. Ms. O’Shea, who is the science department’s new assistant principal, expressed gratitude for Mr. Christakos’s influence on her and her colleagues.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked under the leadership of Mr. Christakos, whose kindness, understanding, and unwavering support left a lasting impact on me, the entire department and every student he encountered,” she said. “He had a remarkable ability to inspire confidence and a love of learning in both his students and teachers in the science department, creating an environment where curiosity and growth thrived. I am genuinely honored to carry forward the work he led with so much heart, and stepping into this new role feels especially meaningful because of the example he set.”
