David K. Yamamoto / Special to The Star Max Beaman, the Conejo Valley Unified District's Deputy of Secondary Education jokes around with his friend, health teacher Greg Ropes while making his last round of visits to students and teachers on his last day before retirement, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at the Nwwbury Park High School's summer school program in Newbury Park, Calif.

David K. Yamamoto/ Special to The Star Max Beaman, the Conejo Valley Unified District's Deputy of Secondary Education is interested in the work of Chris Turnbull while making his last round of visits to students and teachers before retirement, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at the Newbury Park High School's summer school program in Newbury Park, Calif.

David K. Yamamoto/ Special to The Star Max Beaman, the Conejo Valley Unified District's Deputy of Secondary Education thinks over his past years as an educator on his last day of work before retirement, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at the Nwwbury Park High School's summer school program in Newbury Park, Calif.

Max Beaman started the second day of summer school at Newbury Park High School the same way he has for the past two years.

As Conejo Valley Unified School District's director of secondary education, Beaman visited classrooms more than a week ago, chatted with students and made sure everything in the office went smoothly.

Beaman, however, was also greeted with handshakes and hugs from former colleagues, while big, bright, red letters flashed on the school's electronic marquee:

"HAPPY LAST DAY MR. BEAMAN"

After 18 years in Conejo Valley schools and a total of 39 years in education, Beaman retired on June 24.

"It's surreal," Beaman said on his last day as director, while he made his rounds from classroom to classroom. "It's hard to believe I've still got so much to finish up, but starting tomorrow, I won't be doing this anymore."

For the past two years, Beaman, 61, oversaw secondary education in the district, making sure he kept in close contact with principals and assistant principals in the district's 10 middle and high schools.

Jeff Davis, a former assistant principal at Newbury Park High and recently the director of high school programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District, officially took over the position on Tuesday.

Born in Kansas but raised in the San Fernando Valley, Beaman began his stint as an educator shortly after he received his bachelor's degree in physical education and history from San Fernando Valley State College, now CSU Northridge.

He started as a substitute teacher at Samuel Gompers Junior High, a school in South Central Los Angeles near the Watts area.

Beaman said his first stint as a teacher in the inner city school was challenging, where most of the children were sometimes left after school without any constructive activities. He decided to take on that problem when he became a physical education teacher and counselor at Gompers, and later the coordinator of youth services from 1977 to 1979.

From there Beaman moved on to counsel students at Grant High School in North Hollywood and then to dean of students at Northridge Junior High School.

From 1981 to 1990, Beaman served as the assistant principal at Millikan Junior High in Sherman Oaks.

"That was a big move," he said. "I was 35 years old at that point. To work as an administrator with a veteran faculty was a great experience."

It was then that Beaman was reunited with one of his mentors, Millikan Principal Gladi Adams, who was also the assistant principal at Gompers when Beaman was a counselor.

"I think I learned a lot from her," Beaman said. "That's when I really learned that you have to be collaborative to succeed in education."

Beaman took that collaborative spirit when he left Los Angeles schools and started his career in Conejo Valley. From 1990 to 1996, he was principal at Sequoia Intermediate School in Newbury Park, now Sequoia Middle School.

In his last year there, Sequoia garnered the title of one of the state's Distinguished Schools.

In his next move, Beaman took over the top position at Newbury Park High School, which he held for 10 years.

"I never thought I would head a high school, and I was a little apprehensive at first because I thought people might think, Who is this junior high school guy coming in here,'" Beaman said. "But (Newbury Park High) had a great reputation of a collaborative faculty that really pushed academics."

Beaman's open door policy was one of the reasons Newbury Park teacher Greg Ropes enjoyed working with the veteran educator.

"He's a very good guy, and he's been very fair," said Ropes, who teaches work experience during the regular year and health in the summer. "I certainly didn't agree with all of his decisions, but he made it in an honest way. He was a fine principal, and we knew we had a good, honest person when he went to the district."

After a decade as principal at Newbury Park, Beaman wanted to "try something different" and jumped at the opportunity to join the district office when the position of director of secondary education became vacant in 2006 after Chuck Eklund retired from the post.

In his two years in the district office, Beaman said, there were numerous challenges, from declining enrollment to shrinking budget coffers.

"We also continued to work in closing the achievement gap as the number of (English language leaners) grew slightly each year, and in meeting state test scores and yearly progress targets," he said.

Beaman said the familylike atmosphere among faculty and administrators at the schools is what made coming to work pleasurable.

"I've been fortunate to work with great principals in this district," he said.

"They are all strong instructional leaders."

Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Janet Cosaro said Beaman's willingness to listen to others has been instrumental in keeping communication smooth between the schools and the district.

Family, friends and colleagues celebrated Beaman's career at an afternoon gathering June 16 at the district office and at a dinner in the Conejo Recreation and Park District conference room.

"He is a wonderful leader, and if there was a problem to be solved, you know he would work on it immediately," Cosaro said. "He is very loyal and humble, and he will be missed by a lot of people."

For now, Beaman said, he and his wife of 37 years, Jean, will spend more time traveling. The couple has two adult daughters, Melissa and Stacey.

Although retiring from education is bittersweet for Beaman, he said, he hopes the students will continue to take advantage of the "great programs our schools have to offer."

"Everyone wants to feel like they belong, and students have great opportunities to get involved and do well academically," Beaman said. "They are the future."