A Matter of Principal

Don’t yell at me. I spelled it right! I’m not talking about principles…you know, like heath care should be a right and not a privilege.  I am talking about principals, the strong men and women who lead our schools. I am going to talk a little about the three principals I have had in my life.

Actually, I have had four principals. My first grade was spent in Walnutport Elementary and I have no clue who the principal was there.  The rest of my elementary school career was spent under the principalship of Mrs. Rex. It was so long ago I can’t remember her first name.  Here is what I do remember. She was a principal and a teacher. She taught a third grade class. Back then, principals did that. Ahh, simpler times.  Another thing I remember is that she looked like George Washington. Enough said about that!  She was a customer on my paper route when I was in sixth grade. She stopped gettting the paper right before Christmas, robbing me of my big Christmas tip. Grrrr!

Our junior high principal was Mr. Hagenbugh. Jay Hagenbugh.  He was a dapper man and I can remember him usually wearing a grey suit and a red bow tie. Yes, really, a bow tie.  There was definitely a Peewee Herman vibe there, except he was older and had snow white hair.  One thing about Mr. Herman, I mean Hagenbugh,  is that he was a stickler for rules and he used to make us boys wear jackets and ties on assembly days, which was every other Thursday.  Even today, on a Thursday morning, I sometimes remember that.

All four years of high school were guided by Mr. Gordon Kemp.  For some reason I picture him smoking a pipe. Were principals and teachers allowed to smoke around school in the ’60s? I can’t remember Mr. Kemp being the rah rah school spirit kind of principal. My memory serves him up as more of a low profile, government bureaucrat. I could be wrong.  I know how to get him angry though. Challenge the school dress code! I remember sitting in a meeting with him about the dress code. I was a student council officer. I actually asked him if he wouldn’t be more comfortable doing his job in shorts and a tee shirt. He was not happy with the question.

So, I can’t say that having these principals did or did not make a big difference in my life.  I can look back at them fondly and be thankful that none of them were tyrants or lawbreakers…at least as far as I know.

That was fun a nostalgic blog post to write. Unfortunately, I now really badly want to remember Mrs. Rex’s first name! Had she given me that big Christmas tip, I’m sure I would have remembered.  Think of that today and always tip well!