Fork Union Military Academy Announces the Selection of Mike Goad to be Academic Dean
David M. "Mike" Goad has been selected to serve as the next Academic Dean of Fork Union Military Academy. He will assume this position at the conclusion of the current school year.
FORK UNION, Va., March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Colonel David L. Coggins, President of Fork Union Military Academy, announced today that David M. "Mike" Goad has been selected to serve as the next Academic Dean of Fork Union Military Academy. He will assume this position at the conclusion of the current school year. "Mike Goad brings a high level of energy, attention to detail, and—most important of all—a strong commitment to the mission of Fork Union Military Academy," Colonel Coggins said in announcing his selection. "I'm confident that both our cadets and our teachers will continue to flourish and succeed with Mike Goad taking on this new role."
Fork Union Military Academy's current Academic Dean, Todd Giszack, is departing at the conclusion of this school year to accept a position as Principal of another private school in Virginia. Giszack, who was involved in the selection process, stated, "Mike Goad has an incredible work ethic and has shown outstanding and measurable results in every role in which we have placed him during his time at Fork Union Military Academy. I wish him the greatest success in his new role."
Goad is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Rhetoric. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education at Liberty University. He is currently pursuing his PhD from Liberty University's Helms School of Government in Public Policy with a focus in Education Policy. Goad has been an instructor and coach at Fork Union Military Academy since 2015. He has also served on the faculty of Longwood University as an Adjunct Professor since 2018.
He has taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels. Goad was the author of the Humanities curriculum currently in use in the 7th grade at Fork Union Military Academy, which combined elements of both English and United States History into a single course that uses age-appropriate novels to supplement discussions in American history, as well as vocabulary, writing, and grammar lessons used to reinforce the students' work in the course's American history sections. He is currently teaching Advanced Placement (AP) courses at Fork Union in United States History and United States Government.
In addition to his work in the classroom, Goad has been Fork Union's Head Debate Coach since 2015. In his time leading the Debate Club, he has helped students achieve 40 total individual qualifications for state tournaments in the areas of Student Congress, Public Forum, and Lincoln-Douglas debate categories, and a total of 9 cadet qualifications for the National Catholic Forensics League tournament. His debate teams have won three individual Student Congress state championships and have earned Top Three finishes at Virginia Catholic Forensics League state tournaments in both 2017 (3rd Place) and 2018 (2nd Place). Goad is also the current Head Coach of Fork Union's middle school football team and has worked as an Assistant Coach with the high school football team.
Goad's wife, Kate, also works at Fork Union Military Academy in the Development Office. Kate is the granddaughter of J. W. Pendergrass, a longtime member of the Fork Union Military Academy staff who retired in 1990. It is interesting to note that J. W. Pendergrass also taught English and History, coached the debate team, and served as the Academic Dean of Fork Union Military Academy.
"I would first like to humbly thank God for this wonderful opportunity to serve as the Academic Dean of Fork Union Military Academy," Goad said. "And that is ultimately what I intend to do: serve. I would like to thank Colonel Coggins for entrusting me with the challenges that will inevitably come with this role."
"There are so many people I want to thank for supporting me as I take up this new challenge—my mother, mother-in-law, father, sister, my grandmother, and especially my beautiful wife Kate—for their unwavering love and support," Goad stated. "Though this transition will be bittersweet in that I am leaving the classroom as a full-time teacher, I am excited and humbled to serve the school and its cadets in this manner."
SOURCE Fork Union Military Academy
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