As both Bloomington-Normal school districts begin the school year, three principals know this year will be their last before retirement.
The Harrs
Principals of District 87’s Sheridan Elementary School Danel Behrends-Harr and Unit 5’s Northpoint Elementary School Matthew Harr are both retiring this year. They have been married for three decades.
“She became a principal while I was a teacher,” said Harr. “And I always wanted to go back to school and get my master's. And I thought, well, let's go ahead and try administration.”
Harr initially wanted to pursue an athletic director position, but his first job instead was principal at Kingsley Junior High School in Normal. Behrends-Harr was transitioning into a new job in District 87, they had three kids and Harr had just earned his master’s degree.
“I said, ‘You know, try it. You never know.’ I think any time you apply for your first administrative position, you kind of think, ‘Oh, I'm not going to get it.’ Well, he got it. So that year, I transitioned to a new job at Sarah Raymond, and he transitioned to becoming a principal at Kingsley.”
The pair agree that the way they work complement the other with their strengths and weaknesses. Behrends-Harr said she is better with organization, and that Harr is a great listener and more observant.
“For us to go home at night and to know, like we truly have a built-in sounding board of someone who understands what it means to be a principal,” said Behrends-Harr. “That's been an added bonus for us.”
“She's rubbed off on me in some positive ways, and I think I've rubbed off on her in some positive ways,” said Harr. “We both have our style, but I think the the thing that we have in common is just our love for the kids and and the job that we do.”
The couple plans to go to Florida, spend time with their children and do volunteering work in retirement.
Scott Peters at Prairieland
In the Unit 5 school district, Prairieland Elementary School Principal Scott Peters’ family has been an institution. Peters’ father spent his career as a teacher at Chiddix Junior High School. His son works there now as a physical education teacher. His sister recently retired from teaching, and his mother was an English Language Proficiency teacher in the district.
“I really enjoy just the youngsters and their reactions. They thoroughly seem to enjoy seeing you most days,” said Peters. “I feel like my personality comes out best here. I enjoy dressing up for different things and being characters and the kids love that and just fills my heart.”
Peters said he makes it a point to ensure he maintains positive relationships with staff.
“I trust my staff dearly with things, so I'm very collaborative,” said Peters. “We work on things together, we problem-solve together and when things arise, we take it head on and we work on it together.”
Peters has stayed in Bloomington-Normal for approximately five decades, from his time as a Unit 5 student, through studies at Illinois State University, up until his last 33 years as an educator.
“The impact we have is just everlasting,” Peters said of educators. “You'll randomly have people come back and make comments like that or say positive things, and you just realize that's ultimately why we do what we do.”
Each new school year brings a new theme at Prairieland. In each of Peters’ other 10 years at the school, the themes were different and were decided by the school staff as a whole.
“Once you start brainstorming, you can take it to just about anything. Obviously, we've tried to tie it to things that are fun for kids,” said Peters.
Other memorable themes included camping and the outdoors and Legos. For Peters’ last year, he wanted his favorite theme to return: superheroes.
“I said, ‘We're going to do superheroes again.’ So I'm going to go out with what I came in with,” said Peters.
He said school staff do their best to keep a new theme under wraps until people begin dropping school supplies off at school in anticipation of a new year.
Peters does not have plans for what he might do in retirement yet. His focus is still on the school, for now.
“This year is just ... give it my absolute all,” said Peters. “While it is my last year, giving it 100% for our staff and our kids and our families. That's the way I've always done it. So that will never change.”
