• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

'One of the Grand Ladies of Education' Retires After 37 Years: Jan Rutledge Says Goodbye to Students at Baker School

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Zac Anderson, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

May 31--BAKER -- Jan Rutledge comes from a long line of North Okaloosa County community leaders.

Her father, Dr. George Barrow Jr., is a respected doctor who once made house calls across the region.

Her grandfather, George Barrow Sr., served as superintendent of the Okaloosa County School District in the 1920s, and her relatives, the Barrows, helped settle the area in the 1830s.

Rutledge was raised to believe there was no higher purpose than helping others, so it's only natural that she became what her boss described as "one of the grand ladies of education in Okaloosa County."

Last week Rutledge retired from Baker School after 13 years as an administrator and vice principal.

Her life has been devoted to educating north county children for the last 37 years, first at Southside Elementary School, then Walker Elementary and finally at Baker, a K-12 school of about 1,300 students where her grandmother once taught.

"Jan has been a rock that this school leaned on," Baker Principal Tom Shipp said last week.

Rutledge has guided the school through a variety of disasters, including three hurricanes and a tornado that ripped off part of the roof earlier this year.

She won't miss some of the headaches that come with lead- ership, like a recent 5:30 a.m. Mother's Day call notifying her that the school sign had been vandalized.

Everything else she expects to miss like crazy.

The hustle and activity of a busy school.

The sense of fellowship with teachers and parents in a place that can only be described as the very heart of the community.

Most of all she will miss the children, especially the little ones.

Although Baker School educates children of all ages, Rutledge has always focused on the youngest ones.

She began her career in Okaloosa County as a kindergarten teacher at Southside in 1970.

After 20 years at Southside she moved to Walker and then Baker at the request of longtime friend and mentor, former Crestview High School Principal Tom Grandstaff.

Grandstaff and Rutledge graduated from Crestview High School together in 1964.

Grandstaff returned to the school as principal in 2001 and tried to recruit Rutledge to join him, but her kindly nature seemed best suited for "the babies," although her husband, Sumner, taught art and history and Crestview High for many years.

"My heart is in the elementary grades," Rutledge said. "I have to be with the little ones."

Now the students who were kindergartners when Rutledge came to Baker in 1993 are graduating from high school.

"They joke with me," Rutledge said last week on her second to last day of school. "They say, 'I guess you're graduating with us.' "

Rutledge may be graduating into a new phase of her life, but she can't image a life that doesn't involve helping children.

"I'll probably wiggle my way back in once in a while," she said. "I told all the little ones not to forget what I've told them because I'll be back to check on them." Daily News Staff Writer Zac Anderson can be reached 863-1111, Ext. 440.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Northwest Florida Daily News

More News in this Category