That position was hard, coming in mid-February, not being the "real" teacher, and finding out that Ms. Smith was quite a control freak. She flipped out when I changed a bulletin board, and accused me of letting the students steal her books. Mr. Thomas totally stood behind me. After she officially resigned, he confided that he regretted hiring her. He did not feel she was a good teacher. I had NO idea he felt even remotely that way about her until after she did not work in that city at all anymore. He never before said anything unkind about her, and even when he did, it was simply the truth. I had already had plenty of experience with this woman's controlling and obsessive nature. I was glad for her to go! But once the year was up, another fear was that I would not be able to stay on at the school permanently. I told Mr. Thomas, "I will do ANYTHING to stay. I will teach Kindergarten in the morning and 5th grade in the afternoon to stay here at your school." And I would have done it smiling to work for him. In the short span of a half a school year, I already knew what Mr. Thomas was like. I already loved him like family, like he'd always been part of my life. Fortunately, I was able to stay, and to stay in third grade. New teachers came on board, and we set out teaching those kids for several years. During my first or second year teaching, it's a bit of a blur now, Mr. Thomas wanted me to have a student teacher. I didn't think I could do it, I didn't feel confident in my teaching, but he did. He insisted, but not in a forceful way. He simply said he believed in me and felt strongly I could do this. So I did. It turned out to be a great thing. Terra was a fantastic student teacher, in fact she needed very little guidance from me. Another blessing was that I ended up getting divorced that year, and it was really hard. Having Terra there to pretty much teach all day was a relief. It was an invaluable experience as well, and I believe Terra went on to teach in a different city.
When Mr. Thomas announced that he was retiring, no one was surprised, but everyone was sad. His lupus was really taking a toll on his health, and retiring was the best thing for him. As a gift to his staff, he gave us all a week free at his beach cottage at a beach nearby. This cottage was built from scratch by Mr. Thomas himself. Each year, at the start of school, we'd have a bit of a raffle to get everyone in a good mood. There'd be all kinds of little gifts, but then someone would win a week at the beach house. I remember being so disappointed that year that he didn't have that house in the raffle. Then, at the end of the meeting, he told us we all were getting a week. Unbelievable.
One year I entered a radio contest for an essay about the best boss. The winner got doughnuts for their staff. We won. I wrote about Mr. Thomas from the heart, and to my everlasting dismay, the essay was lost. I tried searching online, but I don't even remember which radio station it was, or what year it was. I know the general idea behind the essay, how Mr. Thomas was kind, fair, compassionate; how he always stood up for his teachers. If parents complained, he backed us up, even if we were wrong. He would tell us privately, but in front of that parent, we were on the same side. What a rare and highly valued quality to find in an elementary school principal, where the usual response is to attempt to placate the parent, regardless of how it makes the teacher look. Mr. Thomas didn't do things that way. He actually respected his teachers and staff. He didn't think he had to hover over us to get us to do our jobs, he just expected us to do them, and we did. He knew everything that was going on in his building. Although he had some short term memory difficulties, and you always had to have an extra copy of any paperwork you gave him, he knew what his teachers and students were doing. He always knew.
His discipline of students was unusual, too. He was pretty lenient, generally. But he was consistently lenient, so if Mr. Thomas lit into a student, boy, that was a changed child. I remember sending a student to him once, and he came to tell me about it. He said, "I ripped him a new one." I loved how candid he was with the teachers, and how he still remembered what it was like to feel the frustration and stress of teaching, and of dealing with a student who was misbehaving. One day, after a particularly bad morning, I was walking back from the cafeteria, where I'd just dropped my class off. Mr. Thomas was coming down the hall, saw me and how dejected I was looking, and he said, "Don't worry, the day from hell will be over soon." And don't worry, the hall was empty of students. That little remark was all it took to perk me up enough to make it through that day from hell. What an amazing person to be able to do that, with just a few words.
After he retired, I kept in touch with Mr. Thomas. We corresponded often by email, and sometimes by mail. He came to my wedding to Bill. He shared with me about his father-in-law, his gazebo, his Christmas tree lot, and the school van he was driving. He just couldn't stop working with children. His daughters also reminded us about the Christmas cards and report card notes he hand-wrote every year. 500+ report cards, and they ALL had a hand-written note from Mr. Thomas. "You can do better" or "Great job, keep it up! You're doing so well in Reading." They were not overly personal, but some were. I wish I had all the cards he gave me. I wish I had saved all the emails we exchanged. But I didn't. I do have one card, though. It has been hanging in my craft room for years. It was from one Christmas, when he gave his staff these beautiful brass starfish, that came with the story of the starfish, and the man that was throwing them back into the sea. His card to me said, "Kathy, what a blessing it was to [our school] and to me when you came into all of our lives. I hope you know just what a special person you are. I hope that this holiday season will be a time when you can enjoy all of the many wonderful things that make this such a wonderful time of the year. Among those who will be thinking of you during this special time, please include me on the list and know that my best wishes for a wonderful holiday season are with you. Lowell T." I treasure this card.
Mr. Thomas was a kind, compassionate, caring, loving man. He loved his family, his staff, his students, his church. I can't imagine ever working for someone as respectful, trusting, and supportive.
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