With over a quarter century of helping students complete their high school education, Jarry Hillman has many memories and success stories that still bring a smile to his face in retirement. Originally, from Hays, Kansas, Hillman and his wife moved to Enid in 1976 to expand his father’s jewelry business. Once they started a family, he began to look for another career path to allow him to spend more time at home and not on the road all the time. They had two children, Jennifer and Jason, and the next chapter began for Hillman. He went back to his original college career path and used his education to work at Enid State School, teaching students with developmental disabilities. He has said that this time in his career was monumental and crucial for forming his outlook on education.
In 1992, Hillman received a call from Enid Public School to interview for a new adventure. The district was starting a new alternative school program, and Hillman said, “what’s an alternative school?” At that time, that was not heard of around Oklahoma. Hillman said, “when this started, they said, ‘if you can save one kid, keep one kid from dropping out, it’s worth it. We were hoping it would last at least one year.” He never dreamed that the school would go on to graduate hundreds of students and win multiple awards including the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Dropout Prevention Program of the year, along with the National Dropout/Recovery/Intervention/Prevention Program of the year.
Some of the biggest challenges Hillman faced while creating this program was helping the community realize this school was not “for bad kids”, or “trouble makers.” When looking at the students over the years at Lincoln, Hillman said those statements could not have been further from the truth. There was not one thing that brought kids to the alternative school, and no two students’ situation was alike. Some students worked full-time jobs to support their families and needed a different schedule from the traditional school setting, some kids slept in their car and needed more support, some kids had anxiety and depression that the smaller class size better fit their needs, some were teen parents, some had trauma that led to attendance issues, and the list could go on and on. The one thing the students all had in common was they wanted to finish their high school diploma.
The motto Hillman was caught saying over all his years was “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” If students came to school and their basic needs were not met, learning becomes impossible. Hillman was known for making his homemade doughnuts, feeding snacks to the kids, and listening to their lives before they started their school day. Some of these students walked in that door with very difficult things from the night before. Hillman’s philosophy was to build a family environment for the students because for some of the students it was the only family or support they had.
Hillman was an out-of-the-box principal, not typically caught in a tie or suit, but rather in dress clothes and tennis shoes. The weekdays and promotion ceremonies often included the theme from his favorite television show “Survivor,” in which the students would participate in survivor challenges to earn prizes and create a fun atmosphere at school and during graduation. My goal was to “teach these students how to have success, but also to enjoy life,” he said. Hillman always went the extra mile, but not always the textbook way. He wrote rap songs, dressed in a gorilla costume, picked up students who could not get there, and visited his students who had given birth at the hospital, just to name a few. He wanted them to know someone cared for them and that they were important. He is humble about his career and said “the students taught and continue to teach me so much, even in retirement. I hope that what I did contributed back to them. Having the opportunity to inspire and be a part of hundreds of lives is nothing short of priceless.”
There are so many stories of resilience and success Hillman recalls over his 25 years of teaching, however, one stands out to him for many reasons.
One day in his first few years in alternative ed, a girl got up and said, “I am dropping out of school. I’m leaving this school and never coming back” and ran out the door. I took off out the door with her,’ Hillman said. “I said, ‘I’m with ya, I’m done with this job. I’m quitting and never coming back.” They continued to walk down the street together away from the school. She stopped walking and then said, “Mr. Hillman, you can’t quit you’re the principal.” He replied, “Stef, you can’t quit because you need an education.” She went back that day, ended up finishing her high school education, went on to college, and is now a nurse working in Oklahoma City.
There are stories after stories of students in this community who just needed a bit of love, to know someone cares, and to have someone in their corner. Hillman enjoys running into students in town, seeing the families they have created, and watching them have successful careers, and they often swap hugs and old stories of the Lincoln days. Hillman passed the torch to a wonderful principal, Mr. Tommy Parker, and fantastic staff, that he remains in contact with today. He now keeps busy being an avid fan of Kansas University basketball, enjoying time with his wife Jenny, hunting, and working with his two grandsons in Freedom on their ranch. He is also an avid fan of Enid High sports, where he loves watching his other two grandchildren, Brock and Emma Sullivan, play multiple sports for EHS. Even though Jarry would not consider himself one, He is a true “Local Legend.”
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