PORT ANGELES — Mary Hebert exudes love for children and education.
She’s felt that way since first grade.
After a lifetime of operating on a school schedule, Hebert is winding down the last school year as assistant superintendent at Port Angeles School District.
Her last day — June 30 — will close the book on 32 ½ years of educating — as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent.
The school district won’t replace Hebert in light of $1.9 million in budget cuts.
“I knew from the moment I went to first grade that I wanted to be like my first-grade teacher when I started school here in Port Angeles,” she said.
“I just knew that is what I wanted to do.
“Everything I did when volunteering growing up I did with kids in mind. I did a lot of things that were child-centered.”
Further cementing her desire to teach was her family.
“I had a younger brother with a learning disability,” she said.
“School had been easy for me, and I saw his struggle — and that is really what made me want to be a reading teacher.
“Then I had a purpose.
“Before that, I thought teachers were great people, but it was then that I suddenly realized the importance, as much or more, for kids who had difficulties as kids who have an ease of learning.”
First year was 1979
Hebert began at Port Angeles School District in 1979 as a reading specialist at Hamilton Elementary.
She subsequently taught kindergarten, second grade, third grade and a multiage classroom.
For two years before returning to Port Angeles permanently, she taught in Lynden and Arlington.
Hebert was appointed principal of Fairview Elementary in 1997 and then began a seven-year appointment in 1999 as Dry Creek Elementary principal.
“I am extremely honored by the opportunity to work with Mary Hebert during my first year in Port Angeles,” Superintendent Jane Pryne added.
“Not only is she an incredibly caring person and advocate for students, staff and teachers, she is a dedicated, hardworking and an outstanding addition to our administrative team.”
Kissing a pig
As principal at Dry Creek, she challenged the students to read and was willing to do almost anything to encourage that — even kissing a pig.
Books were allotted a point system, and she said if they garnered a certain number, she’d kiss a pig. The school exceeded the number by a landslide.
“The kids really wanted the pig to be big and hairy,” she said.
“So I brought in my husband — whose name is Harry.”
Harry was dressed up with a pig nose.
“I told them that they wanted me to kiss a pig, and my husband was [dressed as] a pig and he was Harry,” she said.
“I asked if that counted. Of course they shouted, ‘No!’
“I told them I didn’t think they would go for it.”
Ultimately, she did bring in a pig — and even though it wasn’t huge or wild — she and 10 other staff members did indeed kiss the pig.
“The kids loved it,” she said.
Tribe was important
She was also instrumental in developing the Native American interventionist position at Dry Creek.
It is filled by Rena Francis, who “was an important part of that work, too,” Hebert said.
“I wanted the native families to feel like Dry Creek was really their school.
“The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe was reciprocal, and they welcomed me and embraced me — it was very honoring.
“There was a mutual respect because they saw and believed my heart was in it.”
She and other staff integrated the “Klallam Welcome Song” into the assemblies and have continued to honor the culture of the tribe.
Hebert received the prestigious KCTS Television Golden Apple Award in September 2005, a program honoring excellence in education that is made possible through funding from PEMCO Insurance.
She was nominated by Amity Butler, who is now the principal at Franklin Elementary School.
“Student learning will be the focus for me as well — she modeled that, and she knew her staff, so she knew where everyone was and where the next step in development was,” Butler said.
“She always drove us to get better and perform well and had a very calming demeanor.
“The kids loved her and she is a true leader.
“She cares about the kids as much as anyone else does, and the kids could go to her with problems too.
No firm plans
When Hebert leaves on June 30, it will be the first time since first grade that she will not be bound by the school year schedule.
“I think after 32 ½ years I feel I’ve contributed all I personally wanted to, and you want to have that closure, that you leave when you still feel really positive,” she said.
“I can’t say that I’ve really planned for retirement.
“You always hear people say that once they retire they are going to this, this and this.
“I don’t even have my list yet.
“This [her career] is what I’ve always planned for,” she said, gesturing at her office.
“Retirement will be a blank slate.”
But there is a summer trip to Maui — she’s never been to the Hawaiian Islands SEmD so that was first on her “wish list.”
Although she said she plans on a year of slowing down her pace, she said it might not be easy.
“It will be difficult to go down a level — especially when you feel about your job as I do, with passion, commitment and drive,” she said.
“For this first year, though, I plan to stick to just a few things and perhaps some doors will open.
“There are other things I could do, but I don’t have a plan for that right now.”
Family time
Hebert said she plans on spending plenty of time with her husband, daughter Christina and granddaughter Aubrey, who all live in Port Angeles, and her son Lance, who lives in Texas.
She said she is also grateful to the community.
“This community has provided me so much as I grew up here in Port Angeles — great teachers, wonderful downtown community business owners from Willi Lous to Toggery and Family Shoe Store and summer recreation programs,” she said.
“I appreciate this community and how all these individuals contributed to my dreams and this wonderful career I have loved.
“My wish is that I have contributed and served future generations of this community with the same inspiration and passion I received by serving as a teacher, principal and district administrator.”
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
