By Preston Shultz and Paige Zaruba

The first day of school. Nerves running, excitement and anxiety mixed into one fearful concoction. On a fall day in 1974, a teacher prepares for class. For students, it’s just another dreadful school year, for Dr. Gary O’Malley, it was the start of a long and successful career. Starting as an eighth grade English teacher with coaching duties of football and wrestling, Dr. O’Malley worked his way up to being a superintendent. After 43 years in education, Dr. O’Malley will be retiring.

Throughout the years, Dr. O’Malley changed roles from educator to administrator although he never intended to become a superintendent; it just sort of happened. “There’s no way I wanted to be a superintendent. It’s too political, you have to work with school boards,” Dr. O’Malley said. “Of course, I was just a stupid young kid, I found that I actually really like it.” After many years of being an educator, Dr. O’Malley decided to become a superintendent.

Dr. O’Malley came to Mount Vernon in a time of need, and was up for the challenge. “If you care about people, and you have something to share, then this is a great profession.” Dr.  O’Malley went from being an associate superintendent and a deputy superintendent for the large Cedar Rapids school district, to a smaller Mount Vernon school district. He saw a place where he could help.

Over the past four years, tremendous changes have been made. The school has gained many great assets, from staff and directory to facilities. Although the bond for a new auditorium and football facility did not pass, it got people thinking about the facilities that the students and town deserves. “I’d like to thank Dr. O’Malley for starting the facilities conversation and being brave enough to suggest we needed upgrades in every building, ” said high school principal Steve Brand. “He may not get the credit when we complete our upgrades, but he was the person who instigated the action.”

Dr. O’Malley believes in the philosophy that if you surround yourself with good people, good things will happen. The past four years, Dr. O’Malley has been involved in the hiring of many people in the Mount Vernon school district. He has also been a mentor. “Dr. O’Malley has shown me that even in difficult situations, you can always be kind and empathetic,” said Mr. Brand. “He has also shown me the value of creating and revising a school improvement plan every year. This helps keep everyone focused.”

After 43 years, Dr. O’Malley has held almost every position imaginable in the field of education. From teaching middle school English, to being a college professor at Illinois State University. From coaching to the politics of the school districts, he has truly done it all, but after all these years, Dr. O’Malley still has a favorite position. “I love being in the classroom,” said Dr. O’Malley. He misses his days of teaching and coaching compared to his paperwork that his job consists of now.

Dr. O’Malley will be dearly missed. Math teacher Mary Young found him to be encouraging of her practice. “He was able to applaud my efforts as a teacher,” said Mrs. Young. “He was somebody who was wise — he knew kids and he knew education. He would help us to keep heading in the right direction.” He is liked by many and is very good at his job.  

Although he will be missed,Dr.  O’Malley is confident that his successor Dr. Gregory Batenhorst, who is currently Assistant Superintendent of Student Services in Clayton, Missouri, will do a good job and continue in a positive direction. For some, the months before retirement may come with equipped with slacking off and low motivation, but not for Dr. O’Malley. “We’re going to finish strong. We’ve got until June, and there’s work to be done and we’re going to get it done,” O’Malley said, showing no signs of letting off of the gas pedal.

Retirement comes with lots of free time. Dr. O’Malley plans to “try and sleep in late and take frequent  naps.” He is also a collector of vinyl records and would like to organize his collection. Most of all he would like to spend more time with his kids and just relax. “It’s my turn,” he said.

Dr. O’Malley has been in the classroom since he started kindergarten in 1959, with educators making a difference in his life, teaching him to make a difference in others. The amount of change that he has made in Mount Vernon has been tremendous. O’Malley started to get Mount Vernon back on track, and helped Mount Vernon to be the best that it could be, and for that, thank you.