MOUNT VERNON — Wednesday marked the final day of the school year for Mount Vernon City Schools.
But for middle school principal Gary Hankins, this year’s ‘last day’ was more bittersweet than usual. It also marked his last day working for the district, as he will be leaving at the end of June to work in the Big Walnut Local School District (in Delaware County).
Hankins will be the principal at Big Walnut Intermediate School, which is comprised of fifth and sixth graders. He has spent seven years at Mount Vernon Middle School, serving as principal for the last six. Hankins said his decision was career-oriented.
“I’ve enjoyed working here and I’ve enjoyed the community,” Hankins said. “I don’t have anything negative to say, it’s just one of those things where you make a career decision. It’s not that I’m running from something, but I’m running to something.”
Hankins said that the entire teaching staff and most of the students are aware of his upcoming departure.
In the midst of a busy ‘last day’ on school grounds, assistant principal Sherry Miglin couldn’t say enough about the influence that Hankins has had on the school’s students and faculty.
“It’ll be a big loss for the building,” Miglin said. “To the teachers, I think they looked towards him for guidance. They looked towards him for direction.”
Miglin worked alongside Hankins for the last six years and noted his innovative approach, which shone through in initiatives like ‘Teach Like a Pirate Day.’ Hankins designed the day to push teachers to ‘think outside the box’ and instruct in creative, fun ways. This year, a math teacher used a game of one-legged ping pong to teach a lesson to his class.
Hankins also brought the Toledo Zoo to Mount Vernon Middle School for a day, allowing students to learn about various animals with a first-hand experience.
Miglin described Hankins as someone who inspired not only students, but faculty as well.
“He is a boss, of course. But he’s a mentor, he’s a friend,” Miglin said. “He is very open to new ideas. He let me try to branch out whenever I had an idea or something and he would always support it.”
Hankins and Miglin redesigned block scheduling at the middle school, giving more time per day to math and language arts classes.
As the lunch hour neared on Wednesday, Miglin shared stories about how students would often give Hankins high-fives in the hallway. He would quiz the sixth graders on math facts while they stood in the lunch line, using his spare time to form relationships with the students.
“That was one of his ways of getting to know the kids,” Miglin said. “That was really cool.”
On his final day with the students, Hankins bounced around the hallways, busy but reflective.
“The people I’ve worked with have been fantastic. I’ve had the best assistant principal that I could have asked for in Sherry Miglin, the best staff I could ask for,” Hankins said. “There are a ton of great memories here.”
The Mount Vernon Board of Education could not be reached for comment by the time of publication on when the district might hire its next middle school principal.
