Published: September 02, 2008 10:11 am            

The ‘pal’ in principal

Steve Reynolds, former principal at Highland Park Elementary School, was one of the first friends the Hoover clan made in Stillwater. This was odd, for we came to know Reynolds because Matt, the son, spent a lot of time in Reynolds’ office.

Reynolds died Wednesday. He was 57.

The son wasn’t a bad kid; mostly, he had problems adjusting to a new school after our move from North Idaho. Reynolds instinctively understood this.

He was remarkable in many ways. One thing that always amazed me is he knew the name of every student, seemingly on the first day of each year. I have only two children and sometimes I forget their names.

What I will most remember is the prekindergarten year of Sara, the daughter. Since Becca, the wife, and I were involved in PTA (and visiting Reynolds’ office), the daughter was already well-known throughout school before she started attending. This didn’t seem to help her that year, because she cried little, silent tears. All day. Every day.

That entire year, Reynolds had a fresh tissue ready for whenever he saw the daughter. She spent that whole year with a tissue clenched in her hand, using it to wipe away those heart-breaking tears. Those tissues were almost always supplied by Reynolds.

One image I will never erase came from the daughter’s first day — Reynolds standing in the doorway of the classroom, like a hockey goalie, blocking a mass of 4-year-olds trying to escape. He had one kid wrapped in his left arm, was blocking a second with a knee and using his free hand to hold off a third screaming child. And he was smiling.

If being a good principal wasn’t enough, he also was a good neighbor. He lived in our neighborhood and, as he left earlier than the wife, he would call and warn her on mornings the roads were icy. And because he told me to do it, each night I tell my children, “You are beatiful, intelligent and loved.”

None of this is to suggest he was a saint. He had a good temper and he had this really weird thing about wanting the lunch room, of all places, to be quiet. He also had a wicked sense of humor. Toward the end of every year, when the weather got hot, Reynolds would pop up on the roof of the school with a hose and soak the students on the playground. The kids looked forward to this every year, especially since they didn’t know when he would do it or what part of the roof he would be on. The year could not officially end without “The Soaking.”

Reynolds is proof that one person who shows up for work each day and simply gives a damn can make an enormous difference.

He touched thousands of lives during his time at Highland Park and Stillwater will reap the benefits of his presence for many, many years.

But the world is now a little less good and a little less fun.

Rick Hoover is the NewsPress’ managing editor. Telephone 372-5000 extension 201; e-mail rhoover@stwnewspress.com.

        

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