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Principal Malone Announces Final Farewell |
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Written by by Maddi Hanlon-Austin and Maya Allen
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Tuesday, 26 January 2010 |
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Page 2 of 2
This familiar scene from the halls of Grant
High School will vanish next year, when Grant loses one
of its most valuable staff members. Malone, principal for
the past year and a half, has announced his upcoming
retirement.
“I’ve been doing this for 34 years and I love it,”
says Malone, who has spent 20 of those 34 years as an educator in
Portland. “I don’t want to get into a situation where I don’t love it, so I
think this is the right time to se
rve my society in a different type of way
than what I am doing now.”
For Malone, a Tennessee native, the role of an educator
“comes naturally” in more ways than one. His father, Professor John
Malone, was involved in education as well and was the principal at
the high school attended by Malone and his 10 brothers and sisters. “I
respected him to the utmost,” Malone says about his relationship with
his father. “He was respected in the community, in the schools and in
the church. He was respected for all the work he did.”
But Professor Malone was as strict as he was respected;
his son recalls that his high school never had a dance. The students,
however, were determined to have a prom. As junior class president,
young Malone presided over the class council meetings, and during
one meeting his father, the principal, chose to sit in and listen to their
plea for a dance. Even though Malone’s father had instilled in him
a strong sense of obedience through a strict religious upbringing,
Malone decided that day to take a stand against his father for the
first time and fight for what he and his classmates wanted. Even so,
Professor Malone decided against having a prom, and the issue was
never brought into conversation again.
Times were different when Malone was growing up. “I
experienced [segregation]. White and black fountains, sitting in the
back of the bus, and having to go up to the window to place an order
at Sonic,” Malone recalls. “But that never stopped me from having
white friends. My parents instilled in me and my siblings to have
people accept you for what you are, not the color that you are.”
In his brief time at Grant, Malone has remained a
prominent member in student body activities. From sporting events
to Constitution team debates, he has seen it all, “It gives me chills. I’m
not just looking at the event, but what students are getting out of the
event and what this will mean in their future.”
The students and staff of Grant will miss the energetic
presence that Malone brought to the school during his time here.
Kim Patterson smiles sadly as she expresses her opinions on Malone’s
retirement, “He has let himself enjoy going to events; kids couldn’t
ask for a better cheerleader. I will miss his genuine appreciation and
enthusiasm for the achievements at Grant. He makes my day happy.”
With such a long history in Portland Public Schools
and an even longer history in teaching, Malone has a colorful array
of anecdotes about students, past and present. In the words of his
personal secretary, Angie Payne, “He’s funnier than heck!”
Payne goes on to say that while she’s not happy about
his departure, he will leave plenty of good memories. One such
story representing his quirkiness in the office is that of the infamous
cracker incident, when Payne switched Malone’s favorite garlicky
crackers with plain ones. Malone proceeded to spend five minutes
reprimanding Payne about his strict cracker preferences. It is clear that
a lot of laughter has taken place
in the office during Malone’s
occupancy.
Malone is well-liked
for his youthful energy and
sense of humor. Students have
grown accustomed to Malone’s
upbeat demeanor in the halls
during passing periods, as well as
his willingness to be available to
students whenever he is needed.
Security guard Charles Hunter also expresses regret for
Malone’s retirement. “I’m happy for him but sad for the building and
us.”
Hunter explains that Malone’s retirement will affect the
entire Grant environment.
“The changing of a guard changes everything about the
building,” Hunter continues, “He took the job to help us out, he had
been planning on retiring before, but expanded his time as a principal
just to help us out.”
Grant staff members are not the only ones expressing
sadness about Malone’s retirement; the principal has also left his mark
within other Portland Public High Schools. Jefferson Vice Principal
Margaret Calvert got a chance to work with Malone during the
beginning of his Portland teaching career at Ockley Green Middle
School. Calvert, like many others, will remember Malone’s genuine
attitude, great enthusiasm and support towards kids.
“Although he’s not from Portland, he came here and
made Portland a place in his heart, near and dear to him. As an
administrator, that’s a strong strength to have. [His retirement] will be
a great loss.”
Marshall Haskins, vice principal of Wilson High School,
also expresses opinions towards Malone’s upcoming retirement,
“It’s bittersweet. When you work in education for a long time you
gain generations. But on the other side, he’s way more
deserving of this. He’s got 30 trenches in his field, so I
think he deserves to spend time with his family and loved
ones like retired administrators do.”
The principal’s wife, Lois Malone, expresses
mixed feelings about her husband’s retirement. One
reason Malone is ready to retire is so that he can join his
wife. “Joseph could keep doing this forever,” Lois Malone
comments. Laughing when asked about Malone at
home she responds, “What day of the week? Usually
during the school year he’s always out, so when he gets
home he just wants to eat. He’s pretty quiet, he likes to veg
out and watch TV.” Lois Malone, now retired, also has a
long history in education. Besides teaching in Tennessee,
she taught sixth grade at Gregory Heights Middle School
for 27 years, Occasionally, she still returns to Gregory
Heights as a substitute.
In their spare time together, the Malones
travel to the beach, go out to eat and socialize with friends,
“All our friends are teachers too, so we could talk about it
for hours on end,” Lois says. Though it is evident that both
the Malones are passionate about teaching, Lois Malone is
ready for her husband to retire. “Before he started at Grant, he was
supposed to retire but he agreed to give it a try and he’s loved it,” she
says. But family matters are beginning to pull the Malones back to
Tennessee. Principal Malone will possibly take over a family friend’s
funeral business, and his wife is eager to move closer to her parents.
Yet one thing holds them back.
“Our daughter Allison just got engaged on Christmas
Day,” Lois Malone says.
“She thinks she’s
getting married, I told her I
would take her down to the
courthouse,” laughs Joseph
Malone, with raised eyebrows.
Malone’s tenure at
Grant, though short, has
affected students and faculty
alike, “PPS has been good to
me, and I have something to
give back. Grant has a way of
pulling people in. Just the way people say Grant, the way they sound
it out, gives it a different sound.”
Upon parting, Mr. Malone wishes that he could have had
a bigger impact on students who are not being as successful as they
could be or taking pride in their schoolwork. “I see the lackadaisical
attitudes and my mind goes, three or four years later, what do they
expect to happen?’ That’s what bothers me,”Malone says, towards his
concerns for students.
Although Malone expresses concern over that issue, what
he’s brought to Grant in the past year and a half has been exceptional.
He’s worked hard in maintaining a sense of equality at Grant, “The
only thing I can bring to the table is what I’ve experienced. We’ve got
to talk about it; not only one person has the answer.”
It is evident that Grant will be a different place without
Malone walking the halls and happily partaking in multiple Grant
student activities. But we don’t have to worry quite yet. The end of
the school year is months away, and Malone isn’t planning on leaving
Grant completely in the past.
“I could do something like this again,” Mr. Malone says
with a mischievous smile, “There’s even a possibility of doing some
similar things. As long as I can go out and serve my community.”
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