One More Year

After 28 years in education, the past seven being at Staley, assistant principal Kevin Kooi will be retiring as an educator after next school year. He said he hopes to leave a legacy for himself as his last few moments in education come to an end. 

“I hope that they would say that I was a good dude, just a good dude, and that I really had the best interest of the students, the school and the greater interest at heart,” Kooi said.

Throughout his years in education, Kooi has worked with countless numbers of students with various different stories.

One story of a middle school student with a language barrier stuck with him. The girl was placed in his class, and that was his first time working with a student with that barrier. He said he did not know how to go about teaching her at first because there was not a lot of training for teachers in this situation at the time. 

“By the time the school year was over, this girl was thriving socially and was working toward those basic reading skills,” Kooi said. “And I think what was so impactful around that story was that there were a lot of learning concerns about her, there were some not only learning concerns beyond the language barrier but there were some concerns that she may have some mental disabilities. And I fought to get her tested. I fought to get her a number of resources to assist and help her, and I think that that was very difficult.”

Through his time working with this student he began to see progress with her learning. 

“To see her thrive and learn and get the resources she needed to help her was very cool,” Kooi said. “When I looked back on that and to see her thrive and to see her struggle and know that all of that work and effort we put in to assist and help her paid off.” 

As an administrator, Kooi said he prides himself on his ability to connect with his students on not just a professional level but a personal level. Some students can be harder to get through to, and as someone who enjoys getting to know his students, “It can be very challenging,” Kooi said.

But there are ways he has found to help throughout his years. 

“I don’t know that I have reached every kid in that manner, but I have to look back and say, ‘OK, this is the student’s issue, now what can I do to assist and help them?’ and not take it too personally that I couldn’t reach them,” Kooi said. “because my job in the end is to help a kid graduate and give a kid what they need for post-secondary options, so sometimes the student has to really engage with themself. ” 

Kooi has worked in  elementary, middle and high schools, this being his longest time working in one building. 

“Staley is not just a place of work, but it is a place I have grown to love,” Kooi said. 

When he leaves after nine years at Staley, he hopes his legacy will be “knowing my students and caring about not only the building but every person who walks through it.” 

He said he could only hope that the person who follows will carry those same values.  

“I just hope that anyone who follows me can have similar experiences that I have had because there have been some pretty cool ones,” Kooi said.