Scott Swanson
Colleen Henry loves junior high students.
It’s pretty obvious. The enthusiasm in her voice rises noticeably as she launches into a discussion of middle school life.
“Junior high is a very big transition,” she said. “They come in with big eyes, from elementary school where it’s more tender and loving, and we have to get them ready for high school. It’s really exciting. They’re very much like little ducklings.”
That’s why Henry is back at Sweet Home Junior High, taking over as principal for Hal Huschka, who retired last spring after 18 years. Henry had moved from the junior high to take her first principal’s position, at Oak Heights Ele-mentary, last year. She had taught language arts at the junior high for 10 years previous to that.
A native of Lebanon, she comes from a family full of educators. Her mother and two aunts teach, as do some of her cousins. Her grandmother worked in a ca-feteria. In high school, Henry did some student teaching in elementary schools.
“It’s never boring,” she said. “Every day, it’s kind of a new thing.”
Henry, 36, graduated from Lebanon High School in 1995. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in secondary education, from Warner Pacific in 2001. She earned her master’s degree in education leadership in 2010 from the University of Ore-gon.
She’s enthusiastic about the opportunities she sees at the junior high, which, she noted, has a “younger staff than any other school in the district.”
She’s particularly proud of the TLC leadership program, in which eighth-graders volunteer to help seventh-graders negotiate the system.
“The whole purpose is eighth-graders mentoring seventh-graders, the idea that someone is interested in you, that they will help you be successful. It creates a culture that is very family-oriented.”
She’s been surprised at how much she likes Sweet Home.
“I grew up in Lebanon,” she said, noting the traditional rivalry between the communities and their schools.
“No one was more shocked than I was to fall in love with Sweet Home and stay here.”
Before she moved to Oak Heights, she was wondering whether she would have to go elsewhere to advance her career, she said. She was relieved to get the opportunity to stay – so much so that she bought a house.
“One thing that keeps me in Sweet Home is the family atmosphere that I wasn’t expecting to find in the junior high,” she said.
“This summer, I was thinking about vision and mission, about taking over for Hal, and I wanted to make sure that atmosphere is carried on. It’s a really inclusive environment.”
Because the junior high is only two grades, the whole student body – other than former Oak Heights students – is new to Henry.
“It’s exciting to see new faces,” she said. “I was not here when the eighth-graders were seventh-graders. I’m learning who they are.”
– Staff member Sean C. Morgan contributed to this story.