By Ally O’Reilly
Managing Editor
“I’m shocked,” sophomore Hope Bray said.
“I was thinking that he had just gotten into the swing of things, but now he’s leaving and I’m kind of confused,” senior Taylor Kearney said.
“I’m sad to see him go and I think he did a lot of good things for the school,” senior Gray Kinnier added.
These kinds of thoughts went through the heads of people in the Reynolds community when their new principal announced his resignation in the middle of the third quarter of the school year.
Principal Pat Olsen announced Friday morning that he is resigning, effective April 1, for a new job outside of education.
“I have an opportunity in the private sector,” Olsen said in an interview with Pine Whispers on Friday morning. “I don’t want to go into details right now because some of the details aren’t final. I have to attend some training, so basically I’m going back to school and that’s going to take some time, so I have chosen to start sooner rather than later.”
This decision was not easy for Olsen, who arrived at Reynolds in September 2012.
“It was very hard (to make the decision to leave), probably the most difficult decision I’ve had to make,” Olsen said. “Basically for 25 years all I’ve known is school, high school. It’s what I do. It’s defined my life to this point, so going in another direction is something that had to be contemplated for some time, but I think everybody reaches a point in their life where they feel they’ve done what they can do and need to go in a different direction. I’m not the first person to make a decision like this and I certainly won’t be the last.”
Olsen’s departure makes a huge impact on the school, but his decision was supported by students and staff.
“As long as (his new job) is a job he is excited about, I’m happy for him,” senior Danielle Bruce said.
Drafting teacher Andy Biles, in his 21st year at Reynolds, agreed.
“I’ve always said you can’t fault somebody for doing what they want,” Biles said. “I’d never begrudge somebody for having an opportunity and taking advantage of that.”
Now that Olsen is leaving, the obvious question stands: What happens next?
“We all have our jobs and responsibilities that we do, and when one person’s out, (the work) has got to be dispersed somehow so all of the jobs get done,” Assistant Principal David Small said. “It means there is more work for everybody.”
In a letter sent to the Reynolds community, Superintendent Beverly Emory announced that the search for a new principal is beginning soon, and she is looking for a candidate that “understands Reynolds’ unique history as well as its role as an arts magnet school in our community.”
Emory added that she and Assistant Superintendent Carol Montague-Davis will select an interim principal to lead Reynolds from April 1 until a permanent replacement is selected.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that a principal has left Reynolds. In 2012, Art Paschal retired after seven years running the school, leaving a spot for an interim principal until Olsen took the job.
“It’s a little difficult having an interim principal step in, whether they’ve been here or haven’t been here,” Biles said. “If you get somebody who has been here as an assistant, you’re looking at them in a different role during that transition… If you get somebody who hasn’t been here, they don’t know the characteristics of the school, how the school works. It’s kind of hard for them and for us.”
Even though Olsen was only here for a little more than two and a half years, Reynolds left an impact on him, just as he left an impact on Reynolds.
“My takeaway here is I’m so impressed and amazed that such a vastly diverse group of people can come together and, over the course of four years, we each in our own way find our success, find our way of life, we have a great high school experience, and I would venture to guess that most students who graduate from Reynolds would look back, or do look back, and say that they had a great high school experience,” Olsen said.
Many students are sad to see him go.
“I really liked Mr. Olsen. I thought he was a good principal,” sophomore Britton Sear said. “I thought he interacted with the students a lot and he did a lot with all the departments, like arts and sports… but I look forward to seeing what the next chapter of Reynolds will be.”
Many hope it will be a lengthy chapter.
“I think we used to be the best high school in Forsyth County, and I hope we bring back the pride and the discipline and the family unit that Reynolds used to be,” said Biles, mentioning that Reynolds had just three principals in its first 80 years and has now had three in the last 10 to go along with a high rate of teacher turnover. “The students and the teachers and the administration really took pride in the school and I think we have lost it with all the transition.”
Despite his relatively short tenure, Olsen will always remember his interactions with all the members of the RJR community.
“The PTSA, the students, the parents for their support of Reynolds,” Olsen said. “I appreciate being able to work here and working with really incredible people.”
As far as what Olsen will miss the most, he believes the relationships he created were the most important part of his time here.
“I’ll miss the interactions I can have (with students), whether it’s fist-bumping somebody in the hallway or checking in on how the lacrosse match went, or how the season’s going, or telling somebody I thought their performance was great in ‘Big River’ last night,” Olsen said. “Of course, I’ll miss the people here. They’re special people and I’ll miss them and those friendships I have. When you spend so much time in a place, these people become family.”
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