Administrators, Teachers Honor Lynn K. McMullin

Whether it was writing grants, revamping teacher evaluation standards, developing curriculum, managing the Canton Schools’ website, evaluating test scores or presenting the Board of Education with informative PowerPoint presentations, colleagues say Lynn K. McMullin has positively affected nearly every aspect of the Canton school system.

Late last week, administrators and teachers gathered at La Trattoria Restaurant to honor McMullin as she prepares to leave her post as the town’s assistant superintendent to become superintendent in Orange.

“She’s brought so much to the district,” said Canton Middle School Principal Joe Scheideler. “There’s nothing she hasn’t done and nothing she doesn’t do well.”

McMullin came to Canton in 1996 as English Department chair and AP English teacher. In 2002, she was Canton’s teacher of the year, an honor she also garnered in 1993 while teaching at East Granby High School.

In 2004, she became the director of curriculum and instructional technology and two years later assistant superintendent.

Superintendent Kevin Case described her as loyal, compassionate, creative, visionary, technologically advanced, committed, passionate and intelligent. As he listed the descriptors, he repeated one for emphasis.

“Did I mention intelligent?” Case said.

In many areas, such her development of teacher evaluations, McMullin was “ahead of the curve” and other districts and the state are now looking to Canton for guidance, Case said.

He said McMullin is well versed for her new role.

“She is certainly well prepared for the role of superintendency,” Case said.

Dr. Jordan Grossman, the Canton Intermediate School principal who has been appointed to replace McMullin at the beginning of 2012, also had plenty of praise for McMullin, but as he emceed the night, he injected several humorous moments both professional and personal.

He said he wants McMullin to remember him and be ready to answer the phone for his many, many questions when she goes to Orange. Thinking a picture of himself was over the top, he bought a Pez dispenser with some resemblance for her to keep on her desk.  

To honor McMullin’s “favorite” restaurant, McDonald’s, and her habit of carrying a diet Coke and unsweetened ice tea, Grossman also brought a Happy Meal to the event.

Like many of the gifts McMullin received that night, it quickly found its way to her 2-year-old granddaughter Ella.

Ella stole the show a few times and joined McMullin’s daughter Cathy Kielasinski at the event with other grandchildren Caleb and Callie Flanders.

But there were more serious gifts as well, including a vase, into which each staff member dropped a decorative stone, and a rocking chair with the Canton Schools logo inscribed on the headrest.

Interspersed with Grossman’s words, humor and kind remarks, were speeches by other administrators and teachers.

Scheideler said as he wrote a letter of reference for McMullin for the job in Orange, he was tempted to sabotage the effort to keep her in Canton. But having done the right thing, he found it hard to list all her accomplishments because no one would believe it, he said.

“How could one person change so many things in such a profound way?” he said.

Scheideler said he saw many sides of McMullin’s work since he worked as her as a teacher, her supervisor and then as a supervisee.

“Lynn is more current on educational issues and policy than anybody I’ve ever met,” he said, adding that McMullin is the hardest worker he knows as well.

Despite the skeptics in the room, Scheideler insisted he was, at one time, the district’s athletic director and ended with a sports analogy.

“You were a home run in Canton and you’ll be a grand slam in Orange,” he said.

Gabrielle Aitchison, math department chair for the middle and high schools, is one of few current teachers who worked in Canton when McMullin came to town.

From the beginning, McMullin helped her colleagues, advanced curriculum and took a genuine interest in people’s lives, Aitchison said.

When Aitchison became math department chair, the two worked closely together and when McMullin became an administrator she continued to help, getting, for example, a grant so the school could offer a personal finance class.

She also greatly improved the evaluation and was a key part of professional development changes, Aitchison said.

Board of Education Chairwoman Beth Kandrysawtz praised McMullin for her curriculum development and alignment, consistency with the Board of Education newsletter, Web-site work, evaluations, testing data work and more. 

“Lynn has been instrumental in transforming all of those pieces for the district,” Kandrysawtz said.

“It is hard to let go of all the work Lynn has done,” Kandrysawtz later added. “It is easy to see why she has her own district now.”

McMullin thanked her colleagues for the event and support over the past several years.

She said the participation of parents and committees was a key part of changes in the district. She also said so many others helped her implement ideas and had the expertise to make it work.

Among those she thanked was Case, who she said gave her the freedom to run with ideas.

“Without Canton in my life there wouldn’t be Orange in my future,” she said.

McMullin said the town will do well with Grossman, who takes over the post Jan. 1, 2012.

“You’re in good hands,” McMullin said.