St. Hedwig School Principal, Suzanne DeVaney remembers being in the first grade when she decided she wanted to be a teacher. Now after 20 years as a teacher and 27 years as an administrator, she has decided it’s time to be a student again.
St. Hedwig School Principal, Suzanne DeVaney remembers being in the first grade when she decided she wanted to be a teacher. Now after 20 years as a teacher and 27 years as an administrator, she has decided it’s time to be a student again.
DeVaney will retire from the profession to which she has dedicated most of her life. She plans to enroll in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Cal State Fullerton to study photography. While she spent just six years of career at St. Hedwig School, her impact has left a lasting impression on the students and parents of the school.
DeVaney, 68, has been credited with spearheading many improvements at the school in her six years as principal, including expanding the computer labs, implementing a Meet the Masters art study program, and expanding community outreach programs to benefit underprivileged communities. Her ideas have resonated with the families of the school.
“Ms. DeVaney likes to say that at St.Hedwig, ‘we are a family school,’ meaning when you’re here we all take care of each others kids like they are our own no matter who they are. That is part of what really makes St. Hedwig a special school and she has been our Matriarch. She will be missed,” parent Jo Shade said.
DeVaney has spent all 47 years of her career in Catholic Schools. It was the education she received while attending Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles and Mt. St. Mary’s College. She would receive her Masters in Education at Cal State Los Angeles and then take her service to more than a dozen schools in the Orange County and Los Angeles areas.
For DeVaney, the passion for teaching has come from the idea of giving children a place to feel safe and loved while learning. She has also enjoyed seeing parents happy about their children’s school. Parents have become more and more involved, engaged and productive in the schools and with the students. DeVaney said every parent is able to lend a talent or expertise that the school might not otherwise be able to have. But for DeVaney everything comes back to teaching and the children.
“When I see the light go on in their eyes and I see the smile, or I see them lean over to see if I’m going to touch them on the head, they want a pat on the head,” DeVaney said.
While teaching, DeVaney taught second through eighth grades before moving into the administrative side of the schools. But she soon found that being an administrator was as rewarding as teaching in the classroom. Now she sees the light go on in young teachers as well as the students. Teachers are always learning as well and will bring new ideas from other schools or seminars. If the school does not have the right tools for one of the new ideas, DeVaney sets her mind on finding a way to get what they need.
“To see these teachers now, blossom, that is a reward that I have, to help foster that,” DeVaney said.
Under the direction of DeVaney, the school has increased their computer lab from 18 computers to 30 and added three computer carts that can be moved from room to room. The school will add two more carts before the start of next year. Each cart has 30 net books that are connected by Wi-Fi, which allow students to work collectively on assignments.
Most students now incorporate a blogging aspect to reading and writing assignments and even work at home online. DeVaney has also helped the school make capital improvements on its building. But for the students who return without her, there will be some voids.
“I’m going to miss her smiles every single day,” fourth grader Ashley Retzer said.
Another fourth grader, Kaitlyn Lagumen, said she will miss the songs that DeVaney sang and taught to students. She did not know the name of the song she had heard earlier that day, but it had a familiar theme.
“It was about smiles and having a good heart,” Lagumen said.
As for DeVaney, she said she knows she will miss being part of the school, but also knows that there is a time to move on. The school’s Assistant Principal Kathleen Nocella will be taking over. She has already been at the school for two years, and DeVaney said that gives her confidence that it is a good time to move into the retirement phase of her life.
“Of course I’ll miss it, but you know when it’s right,” DeVaney said.
With her studies in photography at the OLLI at Cal State Fullerton, DeVaney plans to visit the various schools where she has worked and create a kind of historical journal of them, then and now. So there is a chance she will be seen again at St. Hedwig and be able to give the students the thing she has become most known for providing.
“Whenever she sees me she will give me a little hug and a kiss on the head,” fourth grader Lauren Smith said.