After 14 years of helping students at Mill Valley High, an assistant principal is retiring.
At the end of the school year, Marilyn Chrisler will be leaving her post to take a break and explore new avenues in her career.
“I knew in my mind I needed a change,” she said. “I needed to pivot and do something different for a while because I always want to be positive and effective.”
Her position will be filled by incoming assistant principal Heath Wilson.
Chrisler’s role required energy and organization
As one of three assistant principals at the school, Chrisler had several different roles, including:
- Noting and enforcing student attendance
- Disciplining students
- Acting as the school’s activities director, helping plan and assist Mill Valley groups, from the debate team to choir
- Supporting Mill Valley Jaguars sports teams, Brent Bechard, the school’s athletic director, and another assistant principal
Having to wear that many hats meant every day was fresh and unpredictable.
“(The students) make every day different,” she said. “You come in and you don’t know what questions you’re going to get, what’s going to happen, what they’re going to say. And at the high school level, you get that opportunity to build those relationships with them through their activities and sports, and it’s fun.”
Chrisler was previously a tech teacher
A native of Natoma, Kansas, a small town in western Kansas, Chrisler started out teaching business classes in 1994 at Great Bend, Kansas, and later, at Fort Osage High in Independence, Missouri, helping students sharpen their skills in computing, accounting and economics.
“We learned about budgeting,” she said. “To kind of open their eyes up to that is (rewarding) because I didn’t know that as a high school kid, either. You’re just like, ‘Mom and Dad pay my bills.’ I think that was one of the things that drew me to it because they can use it. Like, they see the relevance right away.”
After Fort Osage, Chrisler taught at Olathe High and Olathe South before making the leap over to the De Soto School District, now known as USD 232. Wanting an administrative job, she was hired as a part-time assistant principal at Mill Valley, a role that eventually expanded to a full-time job as enrollment increased.
Watching Mill Valley grow, Chrisler said it felt special being a part of it.
“I’ve enjoyed being a part of building the traditions and hiring new people and making progress as we grow,” she said.
It will be hard for Chrisler to leave
While she’s laser focused on finishing out the school year, Chrisler said it will be tough once reality sets in.
“I’m going to miss the kids, obviously,” she said. “I’m going to miss the day-to-day interaction with them.”
A benefit to leaving the job: Chrisler can go to student events and not have to do anything beyond cheering and congratulating them on giving it their all.
“I can go to those activities now and not have to work,” she said laughing. “I don’t have to worry about disciplining anybody.”
Chrisler is also looking forward to visiting family in Texas and Florida and taking some time to herself. From there, she’ll see what her future has in store, whether it’s substituting at a school or finding another administrative job.
“I’m not going to just sit around and do nothing because I like routine and structure,” she said. “But, like right now, I’m just going to enjoy the end of the year and a couple of weeks of summer and then I’ll do something.”
Looking back on her career at Mill Valley, Chrisler said the ultimate emotion she feels is thankfulness.
“I’ve just been very blessed to have been a part of this community for so long,” she said. “I’ve gotten to work with great teachers, great support staff, and I’ve gotten to work with a lot of great kids.”
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