a community engagement initiative of Waverly Community Unit District #6
Tami Phillips just finished her thirtieth year working as Waverly High School’s secretary and plans to retire at the end of the year. “I’m currently number two when it comes to seniority,” she says with an infectious laugh, “there’s only one, my friend Lisa, that has more seniority.”
Top Down,
Guns N' Roses Up
With a sly smile and another lighthearted laugh, she shares her mental countdown, letting me know there are sixty-eight and a half days remaining until Christmas break and, therefore, her retirement. “This position, it has longevity, though,” she jokes. “The person I replaced she’d been here for twenty-eight years. There have been two people in this position since roughly 1963.”
You simply can’t walk away from thirty years without feelings of loss. I’ll miss the people.
Over the last three decades, Tami has worked with numerous principals and superintendents and watched countless teachers come and go through the halls. Still, she feels as if life runs its cycles. She was born, raised, and graduated from Waverly, Class of 1978. She adds that with the exception of a few months when she was younger, she’s lived and worked in Waverly her entire life, as well. “Things change, but at the same time, they stay the same,” says Tami. She adds that her role has always been ‘trying to keep things going as smoothly as possible.’
Tami’s husband is already retired after a lifetime of working with his hands, spending time building houses, working as a mechanic, and driving a truck. She admits to spending most of the summer contemplating whether to retire before ultimately deciding it was time. She says that she honestly isn’t sure how she’ll spend her newfound free time but looks forward to the freedom of finding out. She also admits that a trip to Vegas is coming up and that she zip-lined on the Vegas strip the last time she visited!
Tami and her husband raised two children, both of whom graduated from Waverly High School. Tami now has eight grandchildren, seven enrolled in the Waverly School District and the eighth joining the rest of the bunch soon. With four of her grandkids attending high school, Tami sees them daily. One of her granddaughters even works as an office aide. “I’m going to miss seeing them. Even though they live around the corner, I’m going to miss that,” says Tami.
When reflecting on thirty years of service, Tami struggles to answer what she’ll miss most. She says that she’ll soon be retired and the specifics will surprise her once they hit. She knows those feelings of sadness over what she’s walked away from will come and she’ll embrace them when they do. “You simply can’t walk away from thirty years without feelings of loss. Regardless of the details, she says, “I’ll miss the people.”
Tami owns a Mustang convertible, a 2007 model with just under fifty-four thousand miles. She has driven it sparingly over the past fifteen years, but will use some of her newfound free time to take it out for a long and winding drive or two, alone with her thoughts while blaring Guns N’ Roses. Life isn’t dull, she shares. It’s time to transition into a new and different phase and see where it takes me.
