Sean C. Morgan
Oak Heights Principal Colleen Henry comes from a family full of educators, so her 10-year career in Sweet Home schools has been a natural progression, she says.
Henry succeeds Derek Barnhurst at Oak Heights. Barnhurst took a new position in Wyoming, while Henry moves to Oak Heights from Sweet Home Junior High School, where she taught language arts.
“I really loved working there, loved the staff,” Henry said of her years at the Junior High. After teaching there for several years, she got interested in further education, and Principal Hal Huschka suggested that she consider leadership. She completed her master’s degree in 2010.
“I didn’t want to leave Sweet Home,” she said.
Henry, 35, 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 Oregon. She is single with no children. She has a cat.
Affectionately remembering the rivalry between Lebanon and Sweet Home, she said, “I grew up in Lebanon. No one was more shocked than I was to fall in love with Sweet Home and stay here.”
She was wondering whether she would have to go elsewhere to advance her career, she said. “Then the opportunity came up to stay in Sweet Home. I hope I get to stay. I just bought a house.”
Education is in her blood.
“My mom was an elementary school teacher in Lebanon,” Henry said. She recalls going to school with her mom on Sundays. “So I think about her when I sit in this office.”
She has two aunts who teach, cousins who teach and a grandmother who worked in a cafeteria. In high school, Henry did some student teaching in elementary schools.
“It’s never boring,” Henry said. “Every day, it’s kind of a new thing.”
She loves “the kids and being able to connect with them,” she said. It can be the small things or the big, unforgettable moments.
She loved working with junior high students, and she’s looking forward to elementary students.
She was working at her computer in her office recently, Henry said. A young girl walked by. The girl knew Henry wasn’t supposed to be there.
“She mouths, ‘Are you the new principal?’” Henry said. She nodded at the youngster. “She gets a big grin on her face, and she was waving.”
Henry found it delightful, and her friends and family members who teach
elementary school told her that’s what she’s in for, she said.
Henry isn’t planning a bunch of changes at Oak Heights, she said. “I have a list of things I’m going through, getting caught up.”
But the school will make a lot of use of Facebook and Twitter, as well as Celly, a service that allows the school to mass text alerts and information to parents.
Henry led the drama program at the junior high, she said. “I loved it. Anytime you can bring theater to kids, then get to see it and participate, it’s wonderful.”
Productions ranged from “Peter Pan” to Shakespeare. Liz Johnson will take over the junior high program.
Oak Heights already has a lot of great things in place, such as a photography and yearbook club, Henry said, but she would love to see theater come back to Oak Heights, which had an annual operetta, led by teacher Kathy Ives, for three decades, before Ives retired.
“There’s a lot of changes,” Henry said. “Change is a part of life. Change is very hard for a lot of people.”
She wants to be thoughtful about any changes at Oak Heights and use the experience of the elementary teachers at Oak Heights, Henry said. It’s best to hold off on big changes when things are working.
When they aren’t, then they should be fixed, Henry said. “If I see something that I think could be improved, I’ll definitely have a conversation with the staff on how to improve it.
“I want to make sure I’m continuing to do everything I can to make Oak Heights a great school.”
She is busy reading “Good to Great,” by Jim Collins, and she doesn’t want to be satisfied with good. She wants to work with the teachers to make sure her school is “great,” Henry said.