Farewell to the Doc
After 5 years at JA Elementary, Dr. Deb O’Neill decided it was time to retire (again) as Principal. Dr. O’Neill was pulled out of retirement when Executive Director, Tim Matlick, approached her and asked her to serve as Principal of JA Elementary back in 2008. Without hesitation, Dr. O’Neill said “YES!” In her 5 years at JA, she has been the rock of the school, guiding the staff and students during COVID-19 and beyond. Her contributions to the school and JA community have made a lasting impact. We sat down with her to chat about her time at JA and her future plans in her retirement 2.0.
TB: How many years have you been at JA?
DO: 5 years.
TB: How many total years were you in education?
DO: 39 years.
TB: During your time in education, what have been your roles?
DO: I’ve been a Special Education Teacher, Speech Language Pathologist, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Community Superintendent
TB: What are your favorite or top 3 memories during your time at JA?
DO: Covid. Well, Covid was not a favorite, but I feel like as a staff and the board, we handled it well and as best as we could. We didn’t have a lot of turnover, so that feels like a celebration, and I think we returned from it well. That was a major part of my tine here. It was the end of my 2nd year at JA, and it carried over multiple years. This was the first normal year. Another celebration for me would be some of the initiatives we have been able to put together. Working on what schools work on is not always visible to people, but we have been able to really develop a shared leadership model where teachers feel more empowered to make decisions. Committees, like the building advisory team, come together and problem solve every day (or not every day) problems. We’re deepening our work as a learning organization around how we write goals for ourselves and our kids, and how we deal with difficult students who don’t fit the mold, So I think as an organization, even minus the covid time, we have come full circle to create a positive learning environment for students and teachers. My other celebration sounds kind of stupid, but it is a big part of what we do every day, and that’s drop off and pickup. It’s much smoother than when I got here. Kids were running everywhere outside and crossing in front of cars, and it was a nightmare. Getting this drop off and pickup process smooth- though it is an inconvenience for people to wait- there is very little chance somebody is going to get hurt and it requires the consensus of a whole bunch of people who go out every day to make sure kids are safe. That is just a physical piece, but I think it ensures that kids are safe, and we have some degree of monitoring who gets kids and that there’s no one picking up kids that shouldn’t be. That is a celebration for me because it was such a difficult thing when I came here.
TB: What would be your top piece of advice for the incoming principal?
DO: Education is at a crossroads in terms of the amount of people that leave the profession because of burn out or the difficulties that come from trying to work in a system that is very convoluted and complex. My best piece of advice would be to always keep at the center the purpose of what you’re trying to do, which is to keep family, kids, and teachers at the core of your work. Always try to do your best in reaching out to people and hearing their sides and perspectives. It doesn’t do good to stand on the fence and not take sides, but it also doesn’t do good to try to win. Try to be a sense-maker, try to keep those 3 things at the core of what you do, and you’ll be successful.
TB: What are you excited to do, try, or learn in your retirement 2.0?
DO: I am excited to figure out what my life will look like without a lot of schedules. I am excited to try things I haven’t had time to do like cross country ski better, paddle board, and to do things that, by the nature of the school year, I haven’t had a chance to. I am excited to just give myself some time to see what the evolution of my days will be. In this work you live by a school schedule. Maybe I’ll go somewhere in September when no one else will be there because school is session. I’ve always worked from July-June. I’ve never had a long time off. I’m also excited to see what happens when it will be a usual vacation time, like Christmas break. Am I going to still feel like it’s Christmas break so I can only do this or that, or will it feel just like Christmas time. I am excited for time with the grandbaby, maybe time with my adult kids that are all over the country and I haven’t had time to go visit them during convenient times for them. I have a group of friends from high school, and we’ve been friends for over 40 years. They’re all retired and they’re like “it’s about time”. I love to camp- we will do some hotel camping and regular camping. Just do things that in a normal year I wouldn’t be able to do because I didn’t have the time.
TB: What do you think you will miss the most about JA?
DO: I will say the wisdom of kids. Kids are so open and so honest and wise in many ways. I am always astounding from kindergarten to 6th grade, how well-rounded kids can be if we give them the opportunity to talk. So, I will just miss the wisdom of children.
TB: What do you hope to be remembered for at JA?
DO: I hope that people would say that I’m decisive and that I was a good listener. Also, that I generally tried to bridge people to feel connected. It’s a very large school and hard to do. I hope that people think I brought a sense of humor and little bit of levity to a really hard job. And that I was kind.
Parting thoughts from the Doc:
If you can reasonably do what you love for a reasonably long time, then you found what you were supposed to do. I feel like across my career I’ve generally done what I was supposed to do in working with hundreds of kids and families and teachers. Teaching is an honorable profession, and we need to always remember that and we need to hold in esteem the people that work with every kind of kid on the planet to get them where they need to be. It is something that is to be commended and honored.
Thank you again, Dr. O’Neill, for your guidance, wisdom, and dedication to our JA community!
Enjoy your retirement and we hope to see you soon!
You will be missed!
