The following speech was delivered by Panashe Mutombo, student Board Member of Harford County Board of Education, during Patterson Mill High School’s annual art show after student Thomas Mclean unveiled a portrait he painted of the retiring Patterson Mill principal, Mr. Thibeault. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
School isn’t easy. Its hard to wake up everyday before the sun rises. Its hard to be mentally prepared to learn when you can barely keep your eyes open. Its hard to get along with people who sometimes are very rude with you. Its hard to learn when teachers sometimes don’t listen or forget you are a person and not just a student. Its hard to perform at our bests when we are made to feel at our worst. However, one element, one special shade, one outstanding feature made the entire picture of school: serene; our leader.
Yes it was hard to wake up to school, but every morning there was always an enthusiast and wholesome “good morning, how are you this fine day!” Such a simple phrase would at first seem a little off to us because of the passion and spirit, but it would settle in. As we walked away we would feel good about ourselves and feel a little brighter or giddy or maybe we would just have a sly smile at the energy from such an elderly man. This would transcend into a cheerful/manageable mood. As cheerful as you can get at 7am in the morning on a Monday. That little energy would make us a little bit faster at answering or asking questions, being sociable or just saying a friendly “hello!” Our leader set the example and we followed.
As our high school days and years went by we saw this man at everything. We saw him at sporting events, cheering us on to score and be successful, theatrical works wishing everyone to break a leg, and social events, making sure we all had a good time. He not only is a leader by documentation, meetings, and professionalism but he a friend too many, and a person of comfort to all. As students each speech, piece of advice and words he shared with us inspired us to do better and be in the right.
Mr. Wayne Thibeault is Patterson Mill High schools first principal. He led with integrity, respect, insight, passion, awareness, dedication, and energy. He dedicated himself to the students and his staff. He was there when you expected him and there when you needed him. He was there when plans for the school were made and a lot of us are pretty sure he was there to lay a brick down when construction began. He made Patterson Mill truly, the home of the huskies where today we learn and tomorrow we lead. Thank you leading us, thank you Mr. Thibeault for serving us.
What an amazing tribute! So nice to read such kind words.
As long as his next employer picks someone else to be responsible for the petty cash…
And someone to teach English grammar and punctuation.
Apparently, the new Common Core State Standards should take care of that.
Grammar and punctuation skills died with the birth of texting and social media — just wanted to let U kno…:)
I admire this fine student for undertaking to write this letter. But……. ironically it is a fitting reflection of Mr. Thibeault’s tenure at PMMHS. And it was so much like what Wayne would have said himself: it was filled with incomprehensible, illogical, ungrammatical (and certainly un-proofread) FLUFF; and had nothing to do with substance OR abilities (except for the fact that our extensive research makes us pretty sure that he laid a brick when the school was being built). Let’s make everyone feel good about me so they ignore the incompetent self-serving way in which I’ve done my job as principal. I just hope Wayne’s next employer has a strong lock on their petty-cash box.
And might I be so bold as to add a word of advice for the fine young man who wrote this tribute and for his peers from Patterson Mill who might be tempted to model Wayne’s behavior as they go thru life : enthusiasm, energy and self-promotion are good and have their place in contributing to success; but they are not a fitting substitute for competence, accountability, and doing the right thing when the “right thing” is difficult to do.
This could not be more accurate. Mr. Thibeault’s impersonation of a facilitator of education was a disservice to the students and our community.
Really?–
While I certainly will not question the points you make on Mr. Thibeault, I will question you on criticizing the student’s grammatical mistakes. You yourself used “thru” which is text speak for “through.” Judge not, lest we be judged 🙂
The student in question (who I taught) is exactly the kind of young man who WOULD do the right thing even when it is difficult. Let’s not criticize a young adult as if he were an adult. Seeing through certain personality types is something we have all learned through life experience. I think it is in poor taste to criticize a student in such a public forum.
Teacher… I completely agree. This student I have also taught, and I can’t believe how adults dare to speak like this in this public forum. I’d love to know if those that write these comments actually have children, and how they would feel having their child torn up on here over something so minor. Little do many of you know that this student does more for others and the community than many children of the parents making comments on here.
Wonderful student, positive role model, great speech 🙂