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FAREWELL WITH LOTS OF HUGS SUNNYDALE SCHOOL HONORS RETIRING PRINCIPAL WRIGHT.


Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Yellow happy-face signs decorate Sunnydale School Principal Sandy Wright's parking spot and her office.

The school's students and staff say the happy faces symbolize Wright, who is retiring after 33 years in the Lancaster School District Lancaster School District may refer to:
  • Lancaster School District (California)
  • Lancaster School District (Minnesota)
  • Lancaster Central School District, New York
  • School District of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  • Lancaster Independent School District, Texas
.

``She cares for everybody. When we ask for anything - Mrs. Wright, we need this - she goes out of her way to get it. We are going to miss her a lot,'' parent volunteer Marcy Stockhausen said. ``No matter what problem she has, she always has a smile on her face.''

Wright, who will retire June 30, was honored Tuesday at a farewell assembly. She got a bagful of PayDay candy bars - her favorite - and was regaled with songs, recorder tunes and speeches by about 350 of her students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

``Thank you for being here. I will be here until you leave, which is next Wednesday, so I'll take all the hugs and kisses For the XML format, see .
Hugs and Kisses is a term for a sequence of the letters X and O, e.g. XOXO, typically used to express affection or good friendship at the end of a written letter or email.
 you want to give,'' Wright said.

She then wished the departing students luck and told them to ``knock 'em dead'' at Park View and Amargosa Creek middle schools. After the assembly ended, students lined up to hug her before they filed out of the cafeteria.

Kindergarten teachers Lisa Pacheco and Debbie Konecny organized the event.

``She's been outstanding to work with. She's an excellent mentor. She's great with the kids. She's very supportive of teachers and all the staff here at Sunnydale,'' Pacheco said.

The assembly was supposed to be a surprise, but Wright knew something was up.

``When you see all the kids streaming in, you kind of figure out what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. ,'' she said.

Kindergartners wore headbands decorated with happy faces on yellow suns. She received a balloon in the shape of a sun decorated with a smiling face wearing sunglasses sunglasses  A tinted pair of glasses used to ↓ light arriving at the eye, which are labeled according to the amount of UV light blocked; nonprescription glasses are classified according to use and amount of UV radiation blocked

Sunglasses
.

``Mrs. Wright is really into happy faces. In her office, there are tons of them. It's kind of her signature thing,'' Pacheco explained. A crossing guard painted a happy face on the principal's parking spot two years ago.

Wright said the happy-face theme started when she taught fourth-graders at Desert View School in the early 1980s. Children gave her a happy-face beach ball, and ``it's been happy faces ever since,'' Wright said.

``I think it kind of fits who I am. I have smiles for everybody,'' said Wright, who has a round table at which to talk to visitors in her office because she considers it bad manners to talk from across a desk.

The gift of PayDay candy bars from a fifth-grade class was an inside joke between Wright and the class teacher, who gives away candy bars as prizes to good students. Wright once jokingly told the students' teacher: ``I've been known to run over children for PayDays.''

As good students kept pouring PayDay candy bars into Wright's cupped hands, she pulled up part of her flowing chiffon chiffon (shĭfŏn`), plain-weave, lightweight, sheer, transparent fabric made of cotton, silk, or synthetic fiber; it is made of fine, highly twisted, strong yarn.  dress to hold the overflow. She added: ``I'll probably share some of them.''

Wright, 58, worked as a teacher at Linda Verde, Monte Vista Monte Vista can refer to
  • Monte Vista, Colorado, United States, a city located in Rio Grande County
  • Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, a National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado, USA
 and Desert View schools and as an assistant principal at Park View Intermediate School before becoming principal at Sunnydale four years ago.

Replacing Wright at Sunnydale will be Jean Youngquist, now assistant principal at New Vista Middle School.

Wright said she wants to retire to travel, do arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. , play golf and spend more time with relatives. ``I have a (21-month-old) grandson calling me,'' she said.

Wright will not completely sever TO SEVER, practice. When defendants who are sued jointly have separate defences, they may in general sever, that is, each one rely on his own separate defence; each may plead severally and insist on his own separate plea. See Severance.  her ties to the district. She plans to volunteer two days a week at Linda Verde School.

Besides her happy-face collection, Wright has a bulletin board of key rings. Students at Desert View School wanted to give her gifts, so she suggested something children can afford - inexpensive key rings. She has never tired of working with children.

``They love you without any questions, even when you have to discipline them and talk about something they did wrong. When they leave you, they hug you,'' Wright said. ``It's very special.''

Wright grew up in Ohio, where she got a bachelor's degree in education from Youngstown State University Youngstown State University, at Youngstown, Ohio; coeducational; est. 1908 as a department of the Youngstown Association School sponsored by the Young Men's Christian Association. . She also obtained a master's degree master's degree
n.
An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree.

Noun 1.
 in administration from the University of La Verne The University of La Verne is a private university in La Verne, California (about 35 miles east of Los Angeles) with a main campus, seven satellite campuses throughout central and southern California, a law school, and two military regional campuses at Point Mugu Naval Air Station .

Wright and her husband, Raleign, a retired Highland High School Highland High School or Highlands High School may refer to:

In the United States:
  • Highland High School (Gilbert, Arizona)
  • Highland High School (Bakersfield, California)
  • Highland High School (Palmdale, California)
 math teacher, reside in Palmdale. Their daughter, Shannon Baquar, works for Viacom and is pursuing a master's degree at Pepperdine University Pepperdine University is a private institution of higher learning affiliated with the Church of Christ in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States. The university's location overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is adjacent to the city limits of Malibu. .

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Retiring Principal Sandy Wright gets a hug from fifth-grader Miranda Richardson at Sunnydale School in Lancaster.

(2 -- color) Surrounded by children at her retirement ceremony, Sunnydale Principal Sandy Wright says working with youngsters has always been the best part of her career.

(3) Sunnydale School first-graders sing for their principal Tuesday at a surprise assembly organized in her honor.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer
COPYRIGHT 2001 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Jun 13, 2001
Words:799
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