Clarke Central High School Assistant Principal Dr. Sheila Dunham attends an ODYSSEY Media Group Press Conference on April 2. After working in schools for 34 years, Dunham has decided to retire. “I’m very sad right now. I really haven’t gotten to the excited phase of the transition,” Dunham said. “I still plan to come up here and look for ways to serve, so in my dream world, I’m still hoping that a part-time position may open up that I would be qualified for, but even if that doesn’t happen, I’m planning to come up here and look for opportunities to serve.” Photo by Krista Shumaker
Assistant Principal Dr. Sheila Dunham submitted her retirement letter to the Clarke Central High School faculty on March 20.
After a 34-year career working in schools, Clarke Central High School Assistant Principal Dr. Sheila Dunham will be retiring when her contract runs out at the end of June. Dunham shared an email announcing her retirement with the Clarke Central High School faculty on March 20.
“I did share part of my retirement letter with the entire faculty and it’s actually a very difficult transition. I have been tearing up a lot lately. I have been in school since I was five. I know nothing else, so this is a huge transition for me,” Dunham said. “I will continue to look for ways to serve my community, but I am also looking forward to having time to do many things that I haven’t had time to do in years.”
Dunham began her career in education at CCHS from 1985 to 2001 as a math teacher. She then took the position of assistant principal at Madison County High School, where she worked for seven years. Following her time at MCHS, Dunham worked at the former Clarke County School District Soar Academy for two years, only to come back to CCHS as an assistant principal in 2010, where she remains today.
Dunham feels that working with students at CCHS changed her for the better.
“I think I had a reputation of being a pretty difficult math teacher. That was not because I was trying to be hard, that was all I knew. I still think (my students) perceived me as being a caring person, but I do think I’ve softened,” Dunham said. “I used to see the world a lot more black and grey than I see it now. I grew up in a very conservative household. My parents are still conservative, and so being here and living in Athens has just made me more open-minded.”
Assistant Principal Reginald Thomas worked with Dunham for three years when both were teachers, and has worked with Dunham on the administrative team since she returned to CCHS in 2010.
“I’ll definitely say that whatever (Dunham is) doing, she’s gonna give it 110%. There’s no shortcuts, and that has taught me to be more cognizant of what I’m doing to make sure that I’m doing right by students and by other adults in the building, but there’s no doubt it’ll be something different (working here without her),” Thomas said.
CCHS Family Engagement Specialist Christian Barner has also worked with Dunham throughout his years at the school.
“You’ve got somebody who’s here all the time who devotes a ton of her time, her mind, her energy and her heart to the school and I think that’s gonna be a loss, because I don’t know who would pick up that role in the school,” Barner said. “I don’t know if we have anybody who cares as much as Dr. Dunham does — about the school, about the direction it’s headed, about the students, just, it’s gonna be a big loss.”
The Clarke County School District posted a job opening for an assistant principal to replace Dunham on the CCSD Career Opportunities page on March 20, after she announced her retirement. Dunham hopes to see someone with deep empathy for students and teachers appointed to her position.
“You have to be able to sit down with students and have meaningful conversations, and you have to do the same with teachers because you’re evaluating teachers,” Dunham said. “I think it would be good if the person is very detail-oriented, but also at the same time, can see the big picture, because you need to have a vision about where is the school going.”
Dunham is looking forward to more free time in her upcoming retirement, but hopes to continue to serve her community.
“I’ve been waking up at 4:40 for many, many years, so I am excited about getting to sleep past 4:40 a.m. I want to focus more on taking care of myself as a person, not to say I don’t want to still take care of other people, but I want to engage in an exercise program,” Dunham said. “I could easily become a couch potato, but I do not wanna do that, so I’m gonna try to be very purposeful about still giving back to the community and I still plan to come up here and encourage students and teachers. I mean, that’s just part of who I am.”
From the ODYSSEY Archives: 2010-2011 Managing Editor Jesse Siebentritt covers the return of Dr. Sheila Dunham after nine years in the September 2010 issue of the ODYSSEY Newsmagazine.
Story by Ana Aldridge
Timeline by Gretchen Hinger
