It was not called a going-away party, a retirement party or anything thing like that for Princeton Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilson on Tuesday.
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
It was not called a going-away party, a retirement party or anything thing like that for Princeton Superintendent of Schools Judith A. Wilson on Tuesday.
Rather, the gathering inside John Witherspoon Middle School on a snowy afternoon was billed as a celebration of her “beautiful work,” the term that Ms. Wilson so often used in the past nine years to describe what others in the district were doing.
Ms. Wilson, leaving the job this month, exchanged hugs, posed for pictures and expressed her gratitude when it came time to speak to the crowd of school employees, school board members past and present and other community members, including Mayor Liz Lempert. The woman everyone calls Judy kept her remarks brief.
”I don’t have many words, because you know what would happen,” she said not wanting to get too emotional in front of everyone. “I’m very, very touched and very overwhelmed.”
”I just want to say, too, that it’s so easy to be a believer in this community. It’s easy to believe in children and in public education and in partnerships. And so as I look around this room, that’s all I think about.”
Ms. Wilson was not seeking the kind of attention she got Tuesday. In fact, she originally did not want anything like it at all, one official said.
”When we talked about doing an event like this, Judy suggested that the board ask all of you to simply write notes and put them in the mail to her,” school board President Timothy Quinn said in his remarks. “When she accepted that this event would, in fact, happen, Judy suggested that there be no speeches, that everyone just say hi, have a cookie and go home.”
”But as always, no one listens to me,” she jumped in.
As part of her legacy, a college scholarship in her name was created this year.
Riva Levy, president of “101,” an organization that provides needs-based scholarships to Princeton High School graduates, said the funding came “from grateful members of the Princeton public schools community.””We love you, we love you,” said Ms. Levy to Ms. Wilson. “And I cannot think of a better way to recognize Judy’s work.”
Later, guests watched a student-produced film in tribute to her, complete with the music of Louis Armstrong singing “What a wonderful world.”
Ms. Wilson, the superintendent beginning in 2005, brought stability to a job that had lacked it, said one school official.
”We used to play superintendent roulette. Judy ended that,” said school board member Anne Burns, who served her first stint on the board when Ms. Wilson was hired. “I think that’s made a huge difference in our community.”
”Judy taught me everything I know about education,” said fellow board member Rebecca Cox.