Settling In Behind the Big Desk:
School Superintendent Kenneth Healey
By: Courtney Emond
“Slow down and grow up.”
That’s the advice our Superintendent of Schools, Kenneth Healey, would give to a younger version of himself.
He wanted to be a teacher. He didn’t make it far on his first try.
In a recent interview at RSU 16 Central Office, our new superintendent (six months on the job) said he always knew he wanted to teach. Naturally, he thought college was the way to go. Healey enrolled at Salem State College, taking education courses. It took him less than a semester to realize it was not working out for him. He enlisted in the Marine Corps. Twenty-one years later, he returned to public education.
It was not an easy path. He took classes at night and fulfilled his Marine Corps duties during the day. It took him 17 years to earn his bachelor’s degree. Then he went after his master’s degree.
Is our new superintendent prepared for whatever challenges this job offers him? Healey thinks so. His military career “gave me a path in maturity, leadership and responsibility,” he said. “Looking out for 13 or 14 Marines at one time teaches you to strive, to advance. The Marines … taught me to strive for the best.” After working as a principal at Lisbon High School, Healey set his aims higher. This is, he said, his Marine Corps mindset. “Now I have reached the top of the glass,” he said.
Nothing has come easy for him. His last job as superintendent, in Livermore Falls, was such a long commute that he spent four nights a week away from home, his wife and their daughter. By comparison, Poland “is a cup of coffee away from home,” he said.
There are a lot of good days on the job, but there is also heartbreak, he said.
“In 2016, one of the Spruce Mountain lunch ladies had a heart attack, she made it in time to make it to the hospital, dying later that day.” Healey said. On another occasion, “A bunch of drama kids were coming home, when a woman and her son drove through a stop sign, killing her and her son, leaving the school kids with no injuries. All of these are the worst part of my job; suicides, deaths, injuries, accidents.”
Throughout this interview Healey held my attention as if I were listening to him read my favorite book aloud. Good educator that he is, near the end of the interview he surprised me with a role reversal: he asked me a question that seemed like I was being interviewed.
“Who is your hero and why?” he said. “ After you answer I will give you my response.” Caught off guard, and with a vision of what I think I might become, I said, “Myself and my parents”.
Healey surprised me again.
“Do they know?” he said. Honestly, I didn’t know if they knew, so my response should have been “no.”
“Mine would be Richard Martinez,” Healey said. “A company vehicle flipped, holding thirteen Marines. It was a horrific accident that injured many, crushing and killing Richard Martinez. This Marine had a wife and a two-year-old son at home. Richard is my hero. He was there to stand and protect us from the bad along with every man and women who serve.”
“Also, my father,” Healey continued. “He was known as papa. He would tell papa stories, exaggerated, corny stories. Such a good man.”
Fortunately, I showed Mr. Healey that I had just learned something. I said to him, “Did he know?”
“Yes he did,” said Mr. Healey. “Thank you for asking.”
School Superintendent Kenneth Healey
By: Courtney Emond
“Slow down and grow up.”
That’s the advice our Superintendent of Schools, Kenneth Healey, would give to a younger version of himself.
He wanted to be a teacher. He didn’t make it far on his first try.
In a recent interview at RSU 16 Central Office, our new superintendent (six months on the job) said he always knew he wanted to teach. Naturally, he thought college was the way to go. Healey enrolled at Salem State College, taking education courses. It took him less than a semester to realize it was not working out for him. He enlisted in the Marine Corps. Twenty-one years later, he returned to public education.
It was not an easy path. He took classes at night and fulfilled his Marine Corps duties during the day. It took him 17 years to earn his bachelor’s degree. Then he went after his master’s degree.
Is our new superintendent prepared for whatever challenges this job offers him? Healey thinks so. His military career “gave me a path in maturity, leadership and responsibility,” he said. “Looking out for 13 or 14 Marines at one time teaches you to strive, to advance. The Marines … taught me to strive for the best.” After working as a principal at Lisbon High School, Healey set his aims higher. This is, he said, his Marine Corps mindset. “Now I have reached the top of the glass,” he said.
Nothing has come easy for him. His last job as superintendent, in Livermore Falls, was such a long commute that he spent four nights a week away from home, his wife and their daughter. By comparison, Poland “is a cup of coffee away from home,” he said.
There are a lot of good days on the job, but there is also heartbreak, he said.
“In 2016, one of the Spruce Mountain lunch ladies had a heart attack, she made it in time to make it to the hospital, dying later that day.” Healey said. On another occasion, “A bunch of drama kids were coming home, when a woman and her son drove through a stop sign, killing her and her son, leaving the school kids with no injuries. All of these are the worst part of my job; suicides, deaths, injuries, accidents.”
Throughout this interview Healey held my attention as if I were listening to him read my favorite book aloud. Good educator that he is, near the end of the interview he surprised me with a role reversal: he asked me a question that seemed like I was being interviewed.
“Who is your hero and why?” he said. “ After you answer I will give you my response.” Caught off guard, and with a vision of what I think I might become, I said, “Myself and my parents”.
Healey surprised me again.
“Do they know?” he said. Honestly, I didn’t know if they knew, so my response should have been “no.”
“Mine would be Richard Martinez,” Healey said. “A company vehicle flipped, holding thirteen Marines. It was a horrific accident that injured many, crushing and killing Richard Martinez. This Marine had a wife and a two-year-old son at home. Richard is my hero. He was there to stand and protect us from the bad along with every man and women who serve.”
“Also, my father,” Healey continued. “He was known as papa. He would tell papa stories, exaggerated, corny stories. Such a good man.”
Fortunately, I showed Mr. Healey that I had just learned something. I said to him, “Did he know?”
“Yes he did,” said Mr. Healey. “Thank you for asking.”