The last couple of months for now-retired Mill Pond Elementary principal Jeri Lipe have been bittersweet.
She has received lots of support from parents, former students and staff wishing her well on her retirement, but she admits she will miss seeing the kids every day as she had for 15 years at Mill Pond.
“I love seeing the kids, and the staff and everybody, but I will really miss the kids. You just never know what kids are going to say,” Lipe said. “Those funny things that they say and do just make your day and fill your heart with joy.”
Lipe always knew she wanted to work in education, stemming from when she was in high school and she volunteered at several preschools. She earned her degree in child and family studies from Washington State University and earned her first job as a kindergarten teacher in Enumclaw.
She then spent eight years in Puyallup teaching kindergarten before taking the next leap of her career in Yelm as a principal at Lackamas Elementary.
“I taught kindergarten for a long time, and a lot of people say, ‘Oh my gosh, I could never teach kindergarten. It’s so hard,’” Lipe said. “But I always laugh about that because I think if you could teach kindergarten, then you could probably do just about anything. You have to learn how to work with kids. If you can always remember their love for learning, it will really guide you through.”
Her tenure in Yelm got off to a “mortifying” start, she said. When she sat in front of a large hiring committee for her interview, she was asked a question about how she could get parents more involved at the school. Her answer began with, “Well, if I was queen of the world…”
“Over the 18 years, I look back and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know how they ever hired me.’ After I said that, I went to my car and just about died,” Lipe said. “Who says that at an interview? I was mortified, but in the end, it all worked out.”
Lipe spent three years as the principal at Lackamas before taking the same role at Mill Pond, where she would lead for the next 15 years and eventually finish her career at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
“That’s a long time to be a principal in one building. It’s kind of unusual for a lot of districts, but I think that Yelm really sees the value in that because you can really build those relationships and have those good connections with your staff and the families,” she said. “It really was a blessing to be there as long as I was.”
Lipe decided to retire to spend time with her 5-year-old granddaughter and volunteer at her kindergarten class. She also plans to travel with her husband to Ireland for three weeks, but the possibilities in retirement are endless, she said.
“From there, I don’t know what we’ll do. There’s nothing stopping us now. We can do whatever we want,” Lipe added.
Rebecca Fowler was hired to replace Lipe as the next Mill Pond principal after she spent two years as the school’s assistant principal. Lipe said that Mill Pond will be in good hands moving forward under Fowler’s leadership.
“I think Becky’s going to do an amazing job. She has that complete understanding that you have to build and maintain those relationships to move forward at the school,” she said. “She believes in all the main, essential things that I believed in and that we believed in as a school. I look forward to seeing more great things coming from Mill Pond with her leading the school.”
Lipe said she is proudest of the work that she and the staff did to support their students in their time of need. She added that she is looking forward to the growth of not only Mill Pond but Yelm Community Schools.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how Yelm schools grow over the next decade or so with Chris Woods as the superintendent. I think that he is a real added plus to the district,” Lipe said. “I hope that everything continues to grow once we’re past this little bump in the road that we’re having right now. I’m hopeful for the future of Yelm schools, and I especially am very hopeful for Mill Pond.”
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