Challenge Respectfully Accepted

For some, the task can be daunting. What looked easy or at least doable in theory can become overwhelming in practice. Replacing institutional memory and improving upon excellence are not for the faint of heart. The assignment requires resolve, resilience, creativity, a steady hand, and a healthy respect for the past but with an eye toward the future. Only the hardy need apply.

 

Last fall, Fletcher Collins, the longtime assistant head of Collegiate’s Middle School, announced his retirement on June 30 after 50-plus years in education, the past 47 on North Mooreland Road.

 

What now? folks wondered. Fletcher is rock-solid. He’s abundantly wise. He a stickler for detail. He keeps the trains running on schedule. He’s a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all. Nothing fazes him. He’s forgotten more than most people ever know. How will we ever fill Fletcher’s shoes?

 

Liz Haske will give it a try. Actually, she’ll do much more than give it a try, for her experience both in education and in life has prepared her well for this moment.

 

“I’ve always loved working with kids,” she said. “My upbringing was very different than most of the students here. Education saved me. I’ve always wanted to inspire kids and help them see the opportunities that education can provide.”

 

A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native and graduate of Iowa State (B.S. in elementary education), she taught one year of 3rd grade at Cornell Elementary in Des Moines before heading overseas to continue her career and, in a figurative sense, seek her fortune.

 

“I just had this pull, this draw,” she said of her desire to venture well outside her comfort zone.

 

Her assignments over the next two decades took her (and her family) literally all over the world.

 

Her first stop was Qatar Academy in Doha where she taught 2nd grade for three years. Next was the Clifford School in Panyu, China, where she taught 1st grade and bilingual 4th grade for two years. Next was a two-year stint as a kindergarten teacher at the Damascus Community School in Syria. From there, she headed to Indonesia where she taught 1st and 3rd grades at the Jakarta Intercultural School.

 

“It was amazing,” she said of her time in Oceania. “I learned more in six months than I had in 10 years of teaching. We were constantly getting professional development. They brought in the top educational gurus. We had two or three different people come each year, multiple times a year. They got in our classroom with us. They would model. They would watch us teach and give us feedback. It was incredible.”

 

She next taught 4th grade at the Anglo-American School of Sofia, Bulgaria, where she also served as an instructional coach.

 

“That was the first time I left the classroom,” she said of her administrative duties. “My principal said, ‘Liz, I’m going to connect you with a mentor in Seattle, Washington. You can Skype. If you want to order some books or take a course, I’ll support that. That was the sum of my training. I jumped in headfirst and figured it out.”

 

There was initial reluctance, she acknowledged, but over time she earned the abiding trust of her colleagues.

 

“We totally shifted the culture of learning in that school,” she said. “It was stunning.”

 

After four years, she headed to Zambia where she spent a year teaching kindergarten and 3rd grade at the American International School of Lusaka.

 

Along the way, she earned an MEd in curriculum and instruction with a literacy focus through an online program with the University of Missouri.

 

“I’d been to workshops. I’d had classes in college about how to teach kids to read, but I knew I did not know enough,” she said of her graduate work. “It was transformative.”

 

In 2020, Haske, her husband Jim, who’s also an educator, and their children Amelia and Bryce (Collegiate 8th and 6th graders, respectively) returned stateside.

 

“We thought we’d be overseas until we retired,” she said. “Then with Covid and aging family members, we shifted our perspective. For almost 20 years, my narrative was [that] I could never live in the U.S. again because my life abroad was so exciting. It was just a different quality of life.”

 

The Haskes had family connections in central Virginia. The winters in Iowa would turn anyone away, she said with a laugh, so Richmond seemed the perfect place to settle.

 

One thing led to another, and she arrived at Collegiate in the fall of 2020 as a 5th grade humanities teacher and advisor.

 

“I’m so happy here,” she said. “A huge part of that is because I landed at Collegiate. It’s just the community here. It’s everything.”

 

Though she enjoyed her time in the classroom, she aspired to move into administration if the right opportunity presented itself.

 

“In every single school, whether it was in Iowa or Syria or wherever, I was always reaching for more,” she said. “I’ve always been looking at how things are done and working with other people to make things better. I’m always looking to innovate and elevate and help move things in a direction that’s better for kids and teachers. That’s just who I am.

 

“Whenever we moved countries, we’d arrive jetlagged, set up our house within two or three days, and start our new jobs. I know how to transition. For 20 years, my life was in transition. I know how to just jump in, figure it out, and get rolling.”

 

Still…

 

“With this position, I have so much to learn,” she added. “I’m not Fletcher Collins. The things about him like his positivity and his outlook, I share. I cannot pretend to touch what he knows and knew. That’s not possible.”

 

Her job is multifaceted.

 

“I’ll be working with teachers and departments to help guide and shape the learning that we’re doing,” she said. “In the coming years, we’ll go through the process of curriculum mapping. I have a lot of experience with that. I’m collaborating with Meg (Evans, also an assistant head of the Middle School) and Jeff (Dunnington, the Middle School head) to make sure teachers are supported so that students have the best possible experience.

 

“I would really love to bolster our professional growth. Our Middle School staff is so hungry for learning. They’re amazing. I’d like to start working with departments to have more in-house professional development: learning from each other but also bringing in people who can help us learn even more.”

 

She’s also attending to more mundane duties, among them preparing schedules for events such as Parents Night, ordering materials, and planning assemblies.

 

“Several places I worked, assemblies were more like learning shares,” she said. “Students might do something exciting and show a video or photos or share a project so there’s a greater awareness of their learning experiences.”

 

All roads, then, have led to Collegiate.

 

“Everything about this feels right,” she said. “It was a very hard decision [to leave the classroom]. I was living the dream. I was working with great students. I felt like I was doing something really important, but the pull was there just like it was to go overseas 20 years ago.

 

“It feels good to be using another part of my brain. It feels good to be able to connect with even more of kids just by being available in the hallway and getting them to speak at assemblies. I’m super passionate and enthusiastic. I’m a get-it-done kind of person. I just feel really excited for the new challenge.”

~Weldon Bradshaw