Founding principal of Early College retiring from career helping students like her

Susan Willard told the 2017 Early College Academy of Columbus graduating seniors, “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”

Holding back tears, Willard acknowledged during an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer that the quote attributed to Dr. Seuss is wise advice for her as she prepares to retire from 31 years as an educator, the past 11 as the founding principal of Early College.

“That’s everything,” she said, “me and them.”

That’s because Willard was the type of student Early College targets: a dedicated learner with potential beyond her resources. When she graduated in 1980 from Manchester High School she had received scholarships totaling more than $30,000 and became the first member of her family to go to college.

Willard is grateful for the Manchester staff members who boosted her confidence.

“Had somebody not pointed me the right way …,” Willard said, not finishing the sentence as the emotion overwhelmed her.

Now, she has helped hundreds of students find a path toward a promising future.

With approximately 170 students this year from throughout Muscogee County in this total magnet school, Early College fast-tracks them through most of their high school requirements in grades 9 and 10, then helps them dually enroll in Columbus State University or Columbus Technical College. By taking college courses in grades 11 and 12, they can graduate high school with as much as two years’ worth of college credit.

Willard gushed about the text message she received this month from an Early College alum announcing her graduation from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.

Again dipping into her training as an English teacher, Willard paraphrased poet Emily Dickinson: “You never know how high you are until you’re called to rise. And if your stature’s true to form, it touches the skies.”

High potential

Willard didn’t know how high she could climb in her career as a professional educator after earning three degrees from Columbus State University, a bachelor’s degree in English in 1986, a master’s degree in secondary English education in 1992 and a specialist’s degree in educational leadership in 2002. But toward the end of her 20 years in teaching — four years at Waycross High School (1986-1990), one year at Greenville High School (1990-91), followed by 15 years at Kendrick High School (1991-2006) – she was ready for the opportunity when then-Kendrick principal Ed Barnwell asked her in 2004 to coordinate a new magnet program the Muscogee County School District was establishing with CSU at Kendrick.

“He handed me this big-ol’ thick portfolio and told me to research it,” she recalled with a laugh. “It’s humbling that someone thought I was good enough, smart enough, caring enough – all of the ‘enoughs’ you could ever imagine – to do something this big.”

Willard attended meetings in Atlanta with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and the Georgia Department of Education. Officials there asked her why she kept referring to Early College as a “program” instead of a “school.” They told her MCSD would be among several school districts in the state to receive $450,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Woodruff Foundation to create an Early College school.

She credits then-CSU Education Department chairman Thomas Harrison and then-MCSD assistant superintendent Robin Pennock for writing the application for the grant. Willard was responsible for implementing it, opening with 94 students in the 2006-07 school year.

Kendrick was selected as the incubator for Early College because it didn’t have a magnet program then, Willard said, and because its demographics were conducive to attracting first-generation college students.

“We have everyday, normal kids who have high potential,” Willard said. “They might not have lived up to it in middle school, but we try to get them into shape so they can do what they need to do.”

The program became a stand-alone school in 2010, when Early College moved into the former Waverly Terrace School, which previously housed the Teenage Parenting Center, at 2701 11th Ave.

The school has gotten more publicity since Early College social studies teacher Shane Larkin was named the MCSD 2017 Teacher of the Year. And it has produced its own renown by garnering several state accolades:

▪ Graduation rate of 100 percent in 2016, improving from 97 percent in 2015.

▪ College and Career Ready Performance Index score of 97 percent in 2016, improving from 83.5 percent in 2015.

▪ 5-star School Climate Rating in 2016, improving from a 4-star rating in 2015.

▪ Bronze Award for the fourth straight year from U.S. News & World Report, ranking No. 77 in Georgia on the 2017 “America’s Best High Schools” list.

▪ Four first-place awards and two second-place awards among MCSD’s nine high schools for student improvement on the Georgia Milestones tests in 2016.

▪ Title I High Progress Reward School the past two years.

All of which was achieved despite 82 percent of Early College’s students coming from families classified as economically disadvantaged, according to the most recent data from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

Finishing strong

The school’s latest success and improvement show Willard is finishing her career strong. Asked what makes her most proud during her 11-year tenure leading Early College, she choked up and said, “My kids, they’re not just floundering. They have a plan, whether it’s to stay in college or go to the military— we know what they’re doing.”

Early College senior Hayley Maine, 18, described Willard as “a very kind woman who cares about all of us deeply, like we’re her own children. … You can walk right into her office and sit down and talk with her. Because it’s such a small school, we’re all like a family, and she’s our mom, the students are brothers and sisters, and our teachers are our aunts and uncles.”

Willard is retiring now, she said, to help take care of her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. “She took care of me for a lot of years,” she said. “It’s my turn now.”

Her plans also include more volunteer work with her church, Bethesda Baptist in Ellerslie, and perhaps teaching on the college level.

Reflecting on the most significant lesson she has learned as an educator, Willard insisted, “Kids are the same, no matter what year, what century. They’re the same. They have to know that you care before they are ever going to care to learn anything.”

Respect

For example, one day while teaching at Waycross, a 20-year-old student still in high school called her “a fat b----.” She turned to him and replied, “Billy, don’t you know it’s rude to tell a woman she’s fat, especially one that’s been dieting her whole life?”

Willard didn’t mention the other word the boy used to describe her as she brought him to the principal’s office, where he promptly dropped out of school.

“Oh, my God,” Willard thought. “I made a child drop out of school.”

That night, his mother called Willard and said, “Billy has something to say to you.”

Billy apologized – then got his GED the next day. Now, he owns a plumbing company, Willard said with a smile.

“Even though he got in trouble,” she said, “I still gave him respect. … I believe the respect you give to kids you get back in turn.”

Fighting off another wave of sentiment, Willard continued through a strained voice, “If you are not standing at that door, making them feel special, especially when they maybe come from some place that’s not so special, they’re not going to learn.”

Amanda Toelle, who teaches career, technical and agricultural education, has been with Willard at Early College since its inception. “The kids here are so much more than just kids at a school for her,” Toelle said. “She honestly is here to change their lives, from getting a high school diploma to making life choices. Even if it’s not going to college, she insists on being there to guide them in the right direction.”

Early College school counselor Coartnye Malone was a senior in Willard’s introduction to teaching class at Kendrick during the fall 2005 semester.

“She was an amazing teacher,” Malone said of Willard. “She’s very passionate about the field of education, very hands-on, knowledgeable, and she was practical, very real about what to expect when you come into education.”

And that’s how Willard leads as a principal, Malone noted.

“She’s very honest,” Malone said. “I’ve always appreciated that about her.”

Resolute

But her method isn’t all warm and fuzzy. Another part of Willard’s formula for educational success is being resolute about improvement. Her mantra includes one phrase borrowed from Barnwell – “We’ve got to sharpen our saw” – and one she added: “We raise the bar.”

That means she asks her 24 staff members two questions after each activity: “What did we do right, and what can we fix?”

Toelle said when the school receives an honor, Willard often tells the staff, “We’re never finished.”

“She, of course, congratulates us on our hard work, but it’s always, ‘Let’s push harder. Let’s be better,’” Toelle said. “The kids are growing, so she wants us to grow along with them.”

Willard is a stickler for standards mastery. If a student fails a test in a core subject, that student still is responsible for understanding the content because it will be assessed again in the Georgia Milestones test. So those students are required to attend tutoring sessions after school or on Saturdays, which Willard often joins.

“She makes sure there are a lot of chances for you to retest,” Hayley said, adding that Willard also finds funding for students who can’t afford to pay for various opportunities. “She’s setting you up for success.”

Willard doesn’t just arrive early and stay late, Toelle said. She also picks up the slack, such as cleaning up after PTA meetings or covering classes for teachers who need to leave to take care of family.

Malone has seen Willard answer the school’s phone and run the copy machine.

“No job is too small for her,” Malone said. “A lot of principals won’t do that.”

A common question Willard asks her staff, Malone said: “How can I help you?”

That kind of support, Malone added, “you don’t get everywhere. I’ve never seen a person so committed to what she does.”

Beacon

Willard collects lighthouse figurines, echoing the district’s symbol. Staff and students have given them to her over the years — more than a dozen — because they say she has been a beacon in their lives.

“It’s a symbol of being a safe haven,” Willard said. “And that’s how I think of this school, a safe haven where you can grow and learn.”

Thinking about what Early College will be like without Willard, Toelle said, “The culture is just really positive, so there’s a certain kind of leader we need. They have to care.”

Early College without Willard will be “a very difficult pill for all of us to swallow as we transition this summer,” Malone said. “We’ll be excited for a new year, but this is still her legacy, so that will weigh on our hearts.”

Asked who will replace Willard as Early College principal, MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email that the selection process is in progress.

“Mrs. Willard has successfully led her school community and brought the vision for Early College to fruition,” Lewis wrote. “She has fostered a caring and nurturing environment as well as a culture of high expectations for students and staff alike.”

Willard said, “I’d like to thank the district for this wonderful opportunity. I’d like to thank my staff for standing beside me and rowing in the same direction. And I’d like to thank all the students and their parents over all these years. Together we made a good team, and we did great things.”

When she leaves Early College as the principal for the last time May 31, Willard expects to have no regrets and to be thinking, “I can’t wait to see how well they do next year.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Founding principal of Early College retiring from career helping students like her."