Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4B
July 6, 2016
^Reporter
Angie Dillon found her passion in teaching
BY DIANE
GLIDEWELL
news@mymcr.net
The history of a place
is made up of the sto
ries of its people. Angie
Dillon has been an
integral part of Monroe
County’s history for
multiple decades, but
she is leaving it to oth
ers to continue the
local narrative as she
continues her personal
story on a new stage,
beginning with a one
way ticket to France on
July 9.
Dillon retired as assis
tant superintendent
with Monroe County
Schools on June 30, a
position she held for
seven years after serv
ing as principal at
Hubbard Elementary,
where she was previ
ously an assistant prin
cipal and a classroom
teacher. During
those years,
she has served
on countless
committees
and in many
capacities with
governmen
tal, civic and
church groups.
She grew up
in rural Monroe
County as the
oldest of five
daughters
of Ben and
Annette Spear.
Her father was
county com
mission chair
for one year
and probate
judge for many
years. He was
hurt trying to
fix his truck
when she was
seven and was
a paraplegic
for the rest of
his life. Dillon
experienced
the blessings
of community
and extended family
reaching out to help the
family and also early
on learned ‘leadership’
as she led her younger
sisters on adventures
to pick scuppernongs,
explore woods and check
out the pond.
Growing up, when she
finished chores, Dillon
had the chance to walk
to her grandparents’
house each day to sit,
talk, ask questions and
hear stories. She also
had opportunities to
talk politics with her
father.
“He was a wonderful
man,” said Dillon. “He
helped me understand
how important it is to
give back to the commu
nity.”
Meanwhile, her moth
er taught fifth grade
and then became the
librarian for Hubbard
Elementary, opening the
new Hubbard Center
early during integration.
“I never wanted
to go into education
because of how hard she
worked,” said Dillon.
That changed when,
after graduating from
Mary Persons in 1969
and enrolling in Tift
College, her mother
talked her into helping
‘Ms. Ruby’ with fifth
grade summer school,
fell in love with it and
knew what I wanted to
do,” she said.
In 1971, while she was
in college, she married
fellow Mary Persons
graduate Mike Dillon.
Over the next few years,
they put one another
through college as Angie
completed her degree
in early education at
Tift and her Masters at
Mercer and Mike earned
his undergraduate and
law degrees. They added
Michael Andrew ‘Drew’
Dillon Jr. to the family
in 1973 and Alexandra
Spear ‘Alex’ Dillon in
1985.
Angie began
her teach
ing career in
Macon, and
she and Mike
planned to
move to Macon.
However, after
they built a
house near
her mother
and father in
1987, she told
then-principal
Bill Querry
that she would
like to teach at
Hubbard. She
taught third
grade and first
grade, than set
tled into fourth
grade, which she found
suited her.
When Monroe County
began building Hubbard
Primary School to move
K-2 to a separate build
ing from grades 3-5,
They have made many behind? She said that
Angie Dillon talks about her years as part of the Monroe County
School System and her life as a part of Monroe County in her of
fice a few weeks before her retirement.(Photos/Diane Glidewell)
Angie Dillon and husband, Mike, have one-way
tickets to the French countryside in July.
Querry asked her if she
would be interested
in becoming an assis
tant principal, and she
decided she would. She
and Sharon Hopper
attended classes at
University of Georgia to
prepare for their roles
as assistant principals,
leaving at the end of the
school day to commute
to Athens two days a
week and taking some
classes on Saturdays.
The new Hubbard
Primary School opened
in January 1995.
“I spent Christmas get
ting everything ready.
I think Mike bought
all the Christmas pres
ents,” said Dillon. “We’ll
never open a school mid
year again! But I was
young; it was exciting.”
For the 2000-01 school
year, she was hired as
principal for Hubbard,
and she described her
seven years as principal
as some of the happi
est of her career. She
praised a talented and
hard-working staff that
helped raise student
scores, especially in
reading. In 2006 Dillon
was named Georgia’s
Distinguished Principal
and then National
Distinguished Principal.
“I loved that school!”
said Dillon.
She said she always
worked 11 hours a day
and sometimes on week
ends, but she enjoyed all
aspects of the job, even
disciplining students
and dealing with irate
parents. She said that
working one-on-one with
students and parents,
even when they came in
mad, gave her a chance
to build relationships.
Many burst into tears
as she listened and tried
to find solutions. She
might tell parents who
demanded a specific
teacher that she couldn’t
promise that teacher but
that they could trust her
to place their child with
a teacher who matched
the child’s personality.
She made parents sign
an agreement that they
would read with their
children 20 minutes
each day.
“If you can
read, you
can do any
thing,” said
Dillon. “We
had a high
poverty rate,
but scores
were still
high. What
those teachers
accomplished
was wonder
ful. It was a
group effort.
They were
always willing
to try things.”
She said she
still felt close
to students
and teachers
in her role
as assistant
superinten
dent and
enjoyed being
able to impact
almost 4,000
students. She
found it espe
cially fulfilling
to see the suc
cesses of middle school
and high school stu
dents she had gotten to
know as they were first
entering the school sys
tem. She said that when
Superintendent Anthony
Pack interviewed her
for assistant superin
tendent, he asked her
how long she planned to
stay. She committed to
5-7 years and has now
completed her seventh
year.
And now? Dillon has
a well-deserved reputa
tion of planning ahead
and being attentive to
detail. That is evident in
her plans for retirement,
which began taking
shape several years ago
and went into action
mode over a year ago.
Mike sold his practice
and his law office. They
sold their house, car
and truck and sold or
distributed furniture
and other cumbersome
goods. They sold the
dog (not really, they
didn’t have a dog, and
they are taking their
three cats with them.)
They bought a house
in Beaumont de
Lomagne, France that
was built about 200
years before Columbus
discovered America.
They will be near their
daughter, Alex, who
has lived in France for
the last 12 years and is
on her last step toward
becoming an attorney in
France and married a
Frenchman three years
ago. His family has
welcomed them. [They
will still be far from
Drew, but he has lived
in Portland, Ore for 17
years.]
They plan to immerse
themselves in French
culture and to travel
within France and to
surrounding countries.
They plan to work on
projects at the house
and on their conver
sational French. They
went to Atlanta on
many Saturdays for
French lessons, and
their teacher is now
living in Nice; so they
will visit with her. Mike
and Angie often walk
and hike together, and
the rural French village
where they will live has
walking paths through
out the town.
trips to France since
Alex moved there as a
Mercer study abroad
student and didn’t come
home. They were even
able to take Angie’s
mother with them on
one trip. Angie said they
have been inspired by
World War II historic
sites and by the beauty
of the Alps and grape
vines cascading down
mountains.
“The people are so
nice,” said Dillon. “We
never met anyone who
wasn’t nice to us.”
They had to swear
they would not seek jobs
to be allowed residency
in France. But will
Dillon be able to leave
teaching completely
when they first bought
their 13th century
house, there was a bak
ery across the street.
She could watch the stu
dents from the nearby
middle school stopping
to make a purchase at
the bakery after school
and lingering to con
sume it. She couldn’t
help but consider offer
ing to volunteer at the
school eventually.
“Teaching is a very,
very important profes
sion,” said Dillon. ‘You
have to do it with all
your heart and soul.
If you don’t truly love
what you do, you don’t
need to be in it.”
Superintendent Dr. Mike Hickman gives Angie Dillon a
hug as a video of her years with Monroe County Schools
plays behind them at her retirement reception.
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