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Pat Evenson-Brady
looks back on her years
of Hood River
Educaiton
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News Editor
“Taskmaster,” reads the nameplate in front of Pat Evenson-Brady’s
desk.
The cardboard placard is half-serious, a remnant from a staff
development activity from earlier this year.
It also describes the way Evenson-Brady, widely regarded as a hard
worker for
Hood
River
County
education, treats herself.
June 30 will be Evenson-Brady’s last day of work in
Hood
River
County
School District,
after seven years as superintendent.
But it will not be her last day in education.
She starts work July 1 in her new job, as superintendent of
Willamette Education Service District in
Salem.
“I’m just not ready to retire yet,” said Evenson-Brady, who looks
back on 39 years in education; 17 of them with
Hood
River
County
School District.
The work at Willamette ESD puts her directly involved in
technology, Special Education, school improvement and staff
development, the kinds of things that drove her when she first
took on an administrative job in HRCSD, in the 1990s, and still
do.
“I’m interested in the preparation and the classroom part of
education,” said Evenson-Brady, who put on her soccer shoes and
played at recess with the students in the 1980s as principal of
Westside Elementary.
“I’d always loved to play soccer and saw that the kids really
needed another activity at recess and lunch,” she said. She
enjoyed the chance to kick the ball around, and said the physical
activity helped improve student behavior.
“It was enormously impressive to the kids that the principal had
her own shoes,” she said”
She grew emotional in a visit to Westside in May, for the
ribbon-cutting at the new classroom wing, overlooking the school’s
famed soccer pitch. She recalled her early days at the school,
when it still had an open floor plan, and watching students plot
out the precise dimensions of the vessel Mayflower, as part of an
American history unit. The students’ discovery that the historic
ship would have fit inside the
Westside
School
library stands out for Evenson-Brady as an exercise that
represents the quality of education in the district.
Classrooms were installed in the 1980s and Westside, the
district’s largest elementary in enrollment, has twice been added
to since its 1971 construction
Things have changed there, as they have at most of the schools.
The extensive upgrades to facilities is one thing Evenson-Brady
counts among the progress made by the district under her tutelage:
almost every building in the district has received, or is now
undergoing, extensive remodeling or expansion. This happened
courtesy of the bond issue passed in 2003.
In the past year, students and staff have regularly seen Evenson-Brady
show up at ground-breakings and ribbon-cuttings with either a
ceremonial shovel or load of hard hats, as projects are either
started or completed. The superintendent never asked anyone to
carry them. The symbols of progress she was happy to heft around
herself.
“It’s been fun to have made the kind of change and growth we’ve
seen,” said Evenson-Brady, whose two sons, now grown, are
themselves HRCSD products (see Evenson-Brady file, this page).
Evenson-Brady is as comfortable with statistics as she is with a
shovel and a soccer ball. Her doctoral studies were in how
statistics can be used to improve understanding of academic
improvement.
One statistic she proudly points to is that 59 of this year’s
HRVHS graduates were the first in their families to receive
diplomas.
Another happy memory from visiting Hood River classrooms was when
a fourth-grader asked her, “have you heard of spreadsheets?” and
then proceeded to show the superintendent the numbers project she
had done on the computer.
Evenson-Brady is also proud of the Teen Parent Child Care Center
at HRVHS, which she said helps young mothers finish high school
“and get good outcomes.”
She also points to strides in staff development, and improvements
“in making changes to how we teach”.
Evenson-Brady said another of her accomplishments was “having a
hand in the first integration of high needs students,” in
recognition that a young person’s social experience is as
important as instruction and training.
As a sendoff in the superintendent’s final meeting, the board
presented Evenson-Brady with a decorative platter Wednesday.
“I have always been impressed with how you handle the ups and
downs of things as they happen,” board chair Liz Whitmore told
Evenson-Brady. “You have always shown such integrity. We have all
appreciated your commitment to education for the children of this
county, and your strong leadership.”
“I thank you all for your great support. It will be hard to leave
a place like this,”” Evenson-Brady told the board and assembled
staff, parents and students.
In a piece she wrote in 1993 for Panorama, Evenson–Brady described
the supportive, cooperative attitude of the Hood River Community.
“Every single person I have ever asked to volunteer for a project
to help someone else has shown the ‘sure I’ll help if I can’
attitude. It’s the best part of Hood River County, and our finest
renewable resource.”
Evenson-Brady went on to write of her vision of the community:
n
“In my vision, the schools must make the playing field level for
every student by giving each the services he or she needs to learn
and to reach full potential. Leveling the playing field means
different educational resources for kids with different needs.
Some need advanced math; others need music or English as a Second
Language, or special education or alternative learning centers or
counseling.
“Teen parents need child care; hungry kids need meals; gifted kids
need advanced classes and all kids need recognition of their
unique talents. In my vision, the monetary resources, well-trained
personnel and classrooms are available to provide for each
student’s needs.
“In my vision, every member of the community knows that the
schools are their responsibility, regardless of whether they
personally have children enrolled at any given time. Community
members contribute their diverse talents to the schools — teaching
classes, mentoring and tutoring. They also contribute by making
work experiences available in their places of business, both paid
and unpaid experiences that help students link the world of work
to their school studies. These community members exemplify the
Hood River spirit, ‘Sure, I’ll help if I can’.
“In return students contribute to the community by undertaking
community service projects and studies, providing enthusiastic
labor,. Students work with those in need: pre-schoolers, elderly,
ill, poor or newly arrived. They spearhead community
beautification projects, work on low-income housing, study
community problems and suggest solutions. These students are
learning the Hood River county spirit, ‘Sure, I’ll help if I can’.
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