According to Assistant Principal Victoria Kim, a new Palo Alto High School Athletic Director has been selected to replace Earl Hansen for the 2014-15 school year.

Physical Education teacher Jason Fung will be the new athletic director after working in the Palo Alto Unified School District since 2008. At Paly, he has also served as a head track coach and junior varsity football coach.

Kim said that Fung’s experience as a long-time community member, Paly Class of 1992 alum and staff member will provide him with a solid understanding of the role of an athletic director.

“When you have someone who already has a good sense of what that community is, that’s a great advantage,” Kim said. “He has great rapport with students. He is a coach and understands what needs to happen with all of those pieces coming together in one program called Paly athletics. He understands the different elements and understands what needs to be improved.”

Hansen announced in December that he plans to retire after being part of the Paly athletic community for 26 years, during which he has served as an athletic director, football coach and physical education teacher.

Fung hopes that he will be able to make the job his own while building off of Hansen’s legacy.

“Hansen has done the job for many years now, and I think it’s time that we start a new era, but not take away from anything Hansen has done,” Fung said. “I have to … show my leadership – how [I am] going to problem solve and establish my own credibility for the job.”

Additionally, Kim said that Fung will be able to learn from Hansen’s wisdom, while also incorporating his own perspective into the job.

“Coming into the new position, he [Fung] will have an experienced, veteran athletic director to mentor him during this transition, but he can also have a fresh perspective on it,” Kim said. “Because he’s learning, he will be listening and looking for what changes he needs to make.”

Fung echoed Kim’s sentiment.

“I’m going to learn a lot from him in the next couple of weeks, months, year,” Fung said. “He’s there to help me see this process through and see how it works, so I’m going to have to take his ideas and make them my own.”

More information to come.