Benny Westcott
Hawthorne Elementary School has a new principal with multiple decades of education experience.
Debbie Phillips started the job Monday, July 19, six days after arriving from Montana. She replaces Barbi Riggs, who was appointed as the Sweet Home School District’s Director of the Teaching and Learning Department.
Her goal as principal is “to work collaboratively with the team at Hawthorne to continue the strong traditions and grow together toward furthering the mission of the Sweet Home School District, to give each child every chance to achieve their potential.”
Phillips, 61, grew up in Pratt, Kansas, a town similar in population to Sweet Home. She attended Wichita State University in 1993, where she graduated with a degree in elementary education, then went on to earn her master’s at Missouri State University in 2002 and her Superintendent Certification from the University of Montana in 2020.
She’s spent 21 years in education, 12 in various facets of administration. She started her career in 1993, teaching the seventh- and eighth-grade for a year. Then she moved to the fifth grade for three years and the third grade for five years, before becoming principal at that school, Climax Springs Elementary in Climax Springs, Mo.
“My superintendent called me one Sunday night and said ‘Hey, would you like to be principal tomorrow?’ Our principal had just up and left,” Phillips explained.
She held that position for four years before accepting another principal role at Windsor Elementary, in the Missouri city of Imperial, where she spent another four years. But between those gigs, she took a seven-year break at her husband Jeff’s business, building boat docks on the Ozarks. (The couple has three children: Shane, 36, Bethany, 35, and Tara, 34.)
At this point, the Phillips decided to move to the mountains. So they headed for Trout Creek, Mont., in 2016, where Debbie got a job as principal and superintendent of the Trout Creek School, which consisted of pre-K-through-eighth-grade students.
“I wore a whole bunch of hats there,” she said. Tasks included curriculum and instruction, Title One work and counseling four days a week. She’d been there five years before accepting the Hawthorne job.
In making the switch from Montana to Oregon, Phillips said she and Jeff wanted to be closer to the coast and retire in such a place.
“I love Sweet Home,” she said of her new town. “I feel like Sweet Home is just our new home. I could not be happier. Honestly, I don’t see how anybody could not love it here. I love that we are close to the ocean and close to the mountains. We’re kind of nestled here in the perfect spot. That’s how it feels to me.”
She also glowed about the reception she’s received.
“I love the community,” she said. “People here are so friendly and so nice. I think Sweet Home is a perfect match for me, because the community is very supportive of their teachers and their staff.”
And Phillips looks forward to strengthening her new school’s already solid roster.
“It’s important to be a part of a really good team and surround yourself with really good people,” she said. “And that’s what they’ve done here. They’ve built a really good strong administrative team, and great faculty and staff. When you do that, you can do amazing things. With a really strong team like that, the sky is the limit.”
She stressed the importance of staying current with education methods.
“I’m always looking to see what we can do to make things better,” she said. “What’s the next thing that we can do to enhance education and see what’s around the corner? Because with technology today, things are changing so fast, and we have to always be on the cutting edge. Because there’s so much out there.”
As she takes the leadership mantle amidst some still-lingering coronavirus-related uncertainties, she emphasized the importance of respecting everyone’s personal opinion on best pandemic practices.
In her eyes, the students themselves have already left much of those problems behind.
“What I see with summer school is that kids are resilient, and they are so happy to be back with their peers,” she said. “It’s almost like it’s in the rearview mirror. They’re not really thinking about that. They are in the moment. They’re living today.”
Some of Phillips’ fondest education-related memories involve former students who are excited to see her even as adults.
“Over the years, you have thousands of kids,” she said. “And I think the most rewarding thing is when you know you’ve had an effect on a child and the child will remember you.”
Phillips describes herself as “kids-first,” and elaborated on her approach to teaching.
“For me, it all comes down to love,” she said. “If you can’t teach them, you can love them. And if you can’t love them, then you might as well turn around and walk out the door. It’s all about love and having enough faith that they’re going to get it.”
She stresses “believing in the kids, showing them that they have value, and that there’s a purpose in why they’re alive.” She added that “it’s important that you care, and that you’re always there for them, and that they can always count on you.”
Phillips plans to work for another eight to 10 years, at least. Her husband is a Baptist-ordained pastor who will be looking for a church in the Sweet Home area.
“He has one more Sunday to preach in Montana, and then he’ll be out here, too,” she said.
In her free time, Phillips loves to sing, leading praise and worship in her churches. She also enjoys gardening, hiking with her husband, reading and spending time with her 14 grandkids.
She referred to her new school as a “family.”
“The Hawthorne family has taken me in,” she said. “They pull together and they have each others’ backs, and they really do care about each other like a family. Of course nothing’s ever going to be perfect, but they really do seem to genuinely care.”
Though her career has moved her more toward administrative duties, Phillips remains a teacher at heart.
“I decided I wanted to be a teacher because, just like everybody else, I want to make a difference in the world. Really, that’s what it is. That’s why most people become teachers,” she said. “If I miss anything being in this office, it’s being in the classroom. But I try to be in there as much as I can with the kids. Every single day, I’m in the classroom with teachers and with kids, because that’s really where I want to be.”