After 67 years of having a Williamson either teaching or at the helm of a Watertown school, high school Principal Stephen C. Williamson will retire in July and the Williamson era will end.
"It's time now for me to experience something different," said Mr. Williamson, 59. "What that is right now, I'm not sure of. But, it's my decision to move into retirement and to try to experiment with something else that is yet to be determined."
Mr. Williamson started in the district as a social studies teacher at what was then Case Junior High School. After completing an administrative internship at Case in 1987-88, he became assistant principal at Watertown High School. In 1991, he became principal.
The Board of Education approved his retirement Tuesday.
Mr. Williamson's father, John R., started teaching technology in the district in 1941. He then became principal of Mead and North elementary schools and became principal of Case Junior High in 1962. He retired in 1971.
"It's the end of an era," Mr. Williamson said. "I didn't want to follow in my dad's footsteps; it wasn't intentional. It's just kind of how my career path led. I wanted to be a teacher; education intrigued me. I never dreamed I'd end up here."
Superintendent Terry N. Fralick said Mr. Williamson "has been a tremendously effective principal and he will be missed. I admire his ability to look calmly and objectively at issues that come to his attention. He is proactive and judicious in his decisions and his love for the students and staff is reflected in every decision he makes. I'm going to miss him every day. We've been friends and colleagues for a long time, but we also share a lot of the same philosophies of educational administration."
Mr. Williamson has lead the school through hirings and layoffs, technology improvements and the expansion of Fort Drum, but he said his favorite part of it all is being a part of a place that never seems to stop moving.
"The unique part of the high school is that there are so many different activities that are taking place for kids, from athletics to music to sports," he said. "There is always something going on all the time — fun things really. You just never know what's going to be coming your way, from a question from a parent to a student in crisis, the news media asking a question about something, an arrest — you name it. You learn to stay on an even keel and you try to do what's best and fair for kid, that's been my philosophy."
When Mr. Williamson graduated from Watertown High School in 1967, students could graduate with only 16 credits. They now must have 22 credits.
"Every year during the eighth-grade orientation meeting, it seems like I'm telling them something different in terms of what we'll be expecting of them," he said. "It's a state of constant change."
Over the years, he has kept the school at the forefront of emerging curriculum and technology. Among his favorite accomplishments is the development of the senior exit interviews, for which students must produce a resume and tell a panel what they hope to accomplish after high school.
He also helped develop a curriculum around Regents testing before the state mandated it and made taking a computer class a graduation requirement.
"I think we owe that to the kids today," he said. "They need to leave here with an understanding of computers."
Mr. Williamson said he is also proud of the "musicals that WHS has brought to the school and the community. 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was my favorite — it changed me and expanded my cultural horizons."
With the integration of computers, projectors and software, Mr. Williamson said technology has changed the classroom since he began teaching.
"Students are a reflection of our whole society," he said. "Watertown has changed since I started and the world has changed. The acquisition of knowledge has changed so much mainly because of the integration of computers. If I want information on someone now I can sit right here and Google them instead of going and thumbing through the card catalogue. That's certainly been an adjustment."
Mr. Williamson said the biggest reward has been seeing students succeed. "The most rewarding thing for me is graduation — that's what we're here for," he said.
Mr. Fralick said that within the next two weeks, the district's personnel committee will meet to discuss how to fill the position.
Mr. Williamson said he doesn't know what he'll do during retirement, but said he wants to continue working with children.
"I'm wondering, right now, what's going to be next," he said. "I don't have a job waiting for me and that makes me a little anxious, but I know I'm going to miss the kids the most. As frustrating as they can be sometimes, they're so much fun."
Mr. Williamson and his wife of 34 years, Karen, have two sons, Scott J., 30, who lives in Washington, D.C., and Gregory D., 27, who lives in Mainville, Ohio.
