Farewell and Good-Bye Message
BY ALAN N. JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT
A
fter serving as your Superintendent and Assistant
Superintendent for seven years, I will be retiring
from the Woodland Hills School District and from
public education at the end of this school year.
My last day as Superintendent will be June 30 and, before I
departed, I wanted to take this last opportunity to extend
my very deep gratitude and thanks to the students, staff and
most especially to the Woodland Hills community itself. My
time as your Superintendent of Schools has been the most
gratifying, most rewarding and most difficult time I have ever
spent in public education.
When I first came to Woodland Hills it was my observation
that this was a school district of many paradoxes. There are
communities that have experienced extreme poverty, in
many cases for several generations. There are communities
that have enjoyed great prosperity as well. There are heavy
industrial areas, highly commercialized zones and classically
American neighborhoods complete with sidewalks, leafy
green trees overhanging quiet streets and neighborhood
playgrounds full of happy children. There are busy highways
and tiny narrow alleys where houses cling to hillsides. But
what concerned me the most was the observation that there
were many people, young and old alike, who did not like our
school district and who wished that the merger had never
happened. I recall thinking how difficult it will be for a school
district to advance when there were some who wish it were
not in existence.
But the intervening years have taught me that this first
appearance was flawed. After seven seasons watching Coach
Novak and the Wolverine football team playing to thrilled,
cheering and, above all, unified crowds and after watching as
many amazing musicals—all produced by Mr. Tom Crone--
playing to equally dedicated and equally unified crowds
at the High School Auditorium, I have come to realize that
that which divides us is less than that which unites us. In a
way that can only happen in our great country, the common
pursuit of success and happiness for our children unites the
people of Woodland Hills to an extent, and in a way, that
far outweighs whatever differences we have and whatever
ambivalence we may feel about our schools. This is the
secret strength of the Woodland Hills School District and it
is the strength that will see this great school district through
whatever trials it has faced, is facing now or will face in the
future.
The Woodland Hills School District is the physical
embodiment of the promise that the people of all twelve
communities have made to their children; the promise of
a chance to have a better life. But that is both a promise
and a warning. The promise is all that we CAN do if we
work TOGETHER and the warning of what COULD happen
if we DON’T. I can only hope that in a few small ways I may
have helped to keep that promise during my time as your
superintendent.
In closing, please know how much I have appreciated and
cherished the opportunity I was given to be a part of this
amazing community for a few years. And know that I will
always greet whatever days God has allotted me saying the
same thing; “It is a great day to be a Wolverine!”
Elephant and Piggie Come to the Academy!
BY CLAUDINE BAGWELL, EMILY KUNKLE AND BETHANY MORSE
K
Students from Mrs. Bagwell’s class learning
bus safety rules with the Pigeon’s bus
34
WOODLAND HILLS
indergarten at the Woodland Hills Academy
hosted our third annual Elephant and Piggie
Extravaganza on May 25, 2018. This yearly event is
held to celebrate reading and our favorite author, Mo Willems.
To prepare for this special day, students were given the opportunity to hear a variety
of books by Mo Willems, such as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Edwina the Dinosaur
Who Didn’t Know She was Extinct, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, and all of the Elephant
and Piggie books. During these readings, teachers introduced students to the characters
developed by Mo Willems and the enthusiasm it takes to read his books aloud. By using
the Elephant and Piggie books along with the reading curriculum, students began
to recognize words in the Elephant and Piggie books and started to read the books
independently.
To fully immerse the students in the world of Mo Willems, we took a field trip to the
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to visit the Mo Willems’ exhibit, The Pigeon Comes to
Pittsburgh. The children were able to interact with the characters in new and unique ways.