Longtime baseball coach tabbed to replace retiring Jackson athletic director

Tatum Kitchen will replace John Martin as the Jackson School District athletic director, beginning Tuesday, July 1.

The Jackson School District Board of Education announced the approval of his hiring Tuesday, Dec. 17.

“Coach Kitchen has a deeply rooted passion for athletics and helping others develop as coaches and athletes while furthering school pride," Jackson superintendent Scott Smith said in a statement. "He has done a great job helping our junior high school program succeed. We know he will be a great asset to student-athletes, coaches, and the school community.”

Kitchen — son of the late Terry W. Kitchen, a coach and athletic director at Cape Central — has spent over two decades in education, including 13 years at Jackson. Kitchen got both his bachelor's (2004) and master's (2017) in education at Southeast Missouri State University.

He currently serves as the athletic director at Jackson Junior High School and was recently head coach of the Jackson High School baseball team before being succeeded by Josh Roach. Kitchen previously coached the Cape Central baseball team from 2014-19 after his first stint running the Jackson baseball program from 2007-13.

Martin, who is expected to retire after the 2024-25 school year, has spent 18 years in the position overseeing some of the most successful seasons of Jackson Indians athletics, especially most recently:

• The baseball team finished the 2023 season in third place for the first time in school history.

• The boys basketball team returned to the final four in 2023 for the first time since winning the 1934 state championship.

• The girls golf team finished fourth in Class 4 in 2023, third in 2021 and third in Class 2 in 2019.

• The boys cross country team finished in fourth place in 2022 for the first time since 1977.

• The football team played in the Class 5 state championship game in 2019 and won its first title in 2020.

• The boys soccer team won its first state championship in 2020 and was runner-up in 2021.

• The boys golf team won the Class 4 championship in 2019 and finished fourth in 2018.

• The girls soccer team finished in the final four for the first time in 2018.

• The girls cross country team won the Class 4 championship in 2016 and finished fourth in 2015.

And that's not including the numerous district championships and domination over SEMO Conference competition.

Martin, a 1991 Jackson High School alum, received the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) Outstanding District Athletic Administrator of the Year for the Southeast region in 2018. He also received the MIAAA 25 Years of Service Award as an administrator and coach in 2021.

“Mr. Martin has been a wonderful AD for the District. His leadership and character are unmatched," Smith said in a statement. "While we’re sad to see him go, we wish him well in his well-earned retirement. We know he will be an excellent mentor for Coach Kitchen.”