There are times when we have the opportunity to recognize some great people who have reached significant milestones in their careers while traveling the path around the Falls. Such was the case at a recent School Board meeting when we honored those individuals who have worked 15 or 25 years with the district.
We hope we will continue to have their services for years to come. Continuity with a team can be critical to success. Unlike some of those who work for the Packers and are reaching the peak of their performance at the 30-year-old mark, people in the education business might be just getting into their stride at that point.
However, all good things do come to an end. People choose to retire or move on. Even Brett Favre finally figured that out.
One of our own who wore Packer colors, and many other costumes depending on the occasion, is bus driver and courier Patti Gallas. She was recognized at an informal event this weekend after 22 1/2 years with the district.
There were a number of gifts and tributes, but the gift that brought the greatest response and a few tears was presented by her son, who let her know while standing at the podium that a new grandchild was on the way.
An individual with an even longer stretch with the district is Eileen Schindel. She just passed the 43-year mark in January. She must like Richard Petty, because that was his stock car number and she wants to end on that high note.
We are interviewing candidates for that position this week. She has a mind like a steel trap and noted that currently there are only two people working for the district who started earlier than she did.
Over the years, one of her roles has been to enroll new employees into various programs and to help them as they transitioned into retirement. One might say she saw them coming and going. She will be missed.
A number of other staff members have indicated they are considering retirement, resulting in more transitions.
A much different transition came to mind recently when reading through the list of this year’s prospective OFHS grads. If a person sits in this chair long enough in a school district, one connects with people and has a chance to see a number of significant events in people’s lives while the people work for the school district.
Over the years, there are memories of hiring hundreds of teachers. Many of those same teachers got married after they started their careers with the district. Not infrequently, some would take leave from the district for the birth of a child. On many occasions those children would enter our classrooms as they reached the appropriate age and if the school employee family lived in the district or open-enrolled.
There were many opportunities over the years in the school settings when I might see the student and think to myself that I remember when the student’s mom took leave for the birth. In a few situations there are memories of hiring a teacher, the teacher taking leave, the child entering our schools, and eventually seeing that child walk through the high school graduation ceremony.
We have three of those situations this year when individuals making up the OFHS Class of 2014 make their way across the stage. In a few situations, the son or daughter of a teacher continues the tradition by joining the team working in the district.
It’s been said that no one is irreplaceable. That might be true, but no replacement does the job exactly the same way as his or her predecessor. Very often when we have a change in staffing, we consider whether to restructure the position. As the roles change, the people filling the roles might need to have different attributes. We draw the “stick man” of exactly what we are looking for. If we are lucky, we will find an exact match. If we are not lucky, we have to adjust what we are looking for or hope that the individual will grow into the position.
One can’t help but think of the song in the opening scene of Simba’s presentation in “The Lion King.” The young lion cub’s birth was celebrated at Pride Rock. Eventually, it is Simba who is king and makes a similar presentation. So it is with every enterprise in society, not just school districts. It truly is the circle of life.
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