Sean C. Morgan
Hawthorne School is getting a new look – and a new principal – as the 2012-13 school year kicks off the day after Labor Day.
The school’s entrance is getting a paint job, and remodeling is on the way to make it more parent-friendly and promote school spirit.
The exterior and interior are painted in school colors – yellow and black for the Hornets, and the Pride Wall will feature photos and articles about the school. The school office will be opened up to welcome parents into the school, rather than intimidating them, said new Principal Terry Augustadt.
A banner goes up inside the school on Monday, and there will be an information center with a TV screen like the junior high and high school.
“Anybody who walks into the building will know what’s going on,” Augustadt said. “People are definitely going to know what the school colors are. People are going to know what we’re about.”
Augustadt, formerly the counselor at Hawthorne, takes over for Ryan Beck, who took a job in Creswell to be closer to his home. He’s picking up where Beck left off in many areas.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor,” Augustadt said. “I talked to him twice today.”
Augustadt, 43, was a business consultant, working with local banks and accountant firms in the Eugene area while serving as a football coach at Marist High School, where he helped the Spartans win a state title as an assistant coach. That’s when he developed his interest in education.
“I was coaching and basically went back to graduate school because I wanted to figure out a way to make a living being around kids,” Augustadt said.
Augustadt grew up in Cave Junction and married his high school sweetheart, Kelli. They have been married for 24 years and have two children, a 23-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter. His son, Jordan, is a counselor at the St. Mary’s Home for Boys, and his daughter, Kayla, is considering entering a graduate program at the University of Oregon.
Augustadt graduated from Oregon in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree in sociology. He earned his master’s degree in school counseling in 2008 from Northwest Christian University. His wife, now a social worker, graduated from Oregon and then earned a master’s degree at Portland State University.
Their education was tough, Augustadt said. They worked two jobs each and were raising two children while attending college. They alternated earning their degrees, helping each other through school.
That’s why Augustadt is so passionate about education, he said. It leads to opportunities. Options are limited without it.
He was fortunate enough to get a great job in the business sector after school, Augustadt said, but his experience as a coach led him to education.
When he accepted his job at Hawthorne, he turned down a more lucrative offer at Dallas High School.
The logical choice was to stick with what he knew, high school students, he said, but he had worked with elementary students during internships.
“They’re pure,” Augustadt said. “They’re unfiltered.”
That’s what it boiled down to for him, he said.
“Never in a million years did I actually think I was going to be in education. I absolutely love this. Some days I can’t believe they pay me to do this. I absolutely love the kids. That’s my entire motivation. I love it. I don’t think I could write a story from Hollywood any better.”
The school will continue to showcase its Positive Behavioral Improvement System and the Parent-Teacher Club.
Augustadt has been promoting and using PBIS during his four years as school counselor – at both Hawthorne and Holley School.
Believing Hawthorne’s PBIS program is the best in the entire state, he wants to boost it further, taking it school-wide into academic applications, he said. “We’re PBIS on steroids. It’s probably our No. 1 focus. It’s how we interact with our students here.”
He can find 100 negative things to say to a student, or he can find 100 positive things to say, he said. He likes to acknowledge the “awesome” things they do, and then use that to launch into advice for better behavior or ways to improve.
“Our staff is awesome at this,” he said.
Children are why the schools are here, he said, and every youngster deserves the chances and choices that education offers.
But he needs help, Augustadt said. The PTC and involvement of every family member connected to the school is critical, he said, so his goal is to open the school up more to the community, with more open houses, activities and opportunities for interaction to showcase the talent of Hawthorne students – “to celebrate education, celebrate what we do here.”
Things are going well as he prepares for the new school year, Augustadt said. “We have a good, awesome staff, awesome kids, awesome parents.”
Now, he said, he just needs to find a way to unclutter his desk.