The scariest adjustment Lita Gattis will have to make in her upcoming retirement will be to get used to not having to get up in the morning for school.
“I have been going to school since I was 3,” Gattis said.
At a school board meeting in March, Gattis announced her plans to retire at the end of the school year. She has been in education for more than
30 years, with almost all of it for the Benton School District. She currently serves as assistant superintendent of human resources and administrative services.
“I really have loved every job that I have had,” Gattis said. “There isn’t one that I’ve done that I didn’t like.”
When Gattis was first hired by Benton, she taught Earth science, physical education and health, but her favorite job was being principal at Benton High School.
“I think the biggest joy is the relationships with students and teachers,” Gattis said. “I just like trying — I wasn’t always successful — trying to make a difference in the life of a child, trying to make a positive impact.”
Two years after being hired, Gattis accepted a job at the high school to coach and teach physical education and health. She retired from coaching at the end of the season in 1990 to spend more time with her two children.
“Keith, [my husband], was gone a lot, and I was gone a lot as a coach,” Gattis said. “We felt like our kids were shuffled from one baby sitter to another, but we felt like we needed to be there more.”
Gattis said she took about four years off, and during that time, “just couldn’t stay still.”
“Keith finally said, ‘Why don’t you just go back to school and get your master’s degree?’” Gattis said. “I actually visited with the superintendent from Gurdon and asked him what a good field would be.
“I got my master’s in counseling in 1993, and that next spring, I was hired at Benton High School as a counselor, and I did that for 14 years.”
“Education is so important,” Gattis said. “Education can truly change a person’s life and redirect paths. I have never had anyone tell me that they regretted getting their diploma, but I have had tons of people tell me they wish they had finished, or they wish they had worked harder.”
After her two daughters finished high school, Gattis was asked if she would consider going back to school to earn her administration certification. It was then when she worked as an assistant principal under John Dedman.
“She is one of the greatest educators I have had the privilege to work with,” said Dedman, who worked with Gattis for almost 20 years. “She has a unique ability to inspire students.
“She’s one of those who are well-liked and respected, while she still required staff and students to perform with high expectations. She had that kind of great character and had great empathy for anything that went on with the students. She was always there for them.”
Gattis said she learned a lot under Dedman.
“He is very good, professional and very knowledgeable,” Gattis said. “I worked under him for five years, and when he retired, I took over as principal for three years.”
Gattis said she is truly thankful for the opportunities that made a difference in her life.
“Some strong female administrators that I served under were Betty Berry, Jerry Beaty, Mary Morgan, Karla Neathery and Robbie Rutherford,” Gattis said. “Teachers that I have worked with have been such an encouragement to me through the years.
“They are the ones on the front lines who work so hard to make a difference.”
Gattis graduated in 1978 from Gurdon High School, where she won a state basketball championship with her sister. Gattis’ parents, Joe and Lita Stricklin, still live in Gurdon.
Gattis received a scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and attended the school for two years before transferring to Henderson State University in Arkadelphia after marrying her high school sweetheart, Keith, in 1980. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1982.
“I knew her for many years as a counselor,” Dedman said. “She has a real passion for student success and has a way of letting them know she truly cares.
“She has the right balance when it comes to being an administrator — to maintain discipline and make sure students are doing the right things in their life.”
Gattis and her husband have been members at Holland Chapel Baptist Church in Benton since 1981.
“I love my church and my church family. I am just trying to set a good example for kids, just trying to be a positive role model for kids,” Gattis said.
“She was organized and cared deeply about kids,” Dedman said. “It is not always about telling people what to do, but motivating them to make the right decisions.”
Dedman said one moment that stands out to him is the time Gattis spent with a cancer-stricken 17-year-old student.
“We had a student who had terminal cancer, but Mrs. Gattis took it as her challenge to still bring her school assignments and sit with the young lady and her mother,” Dedman said. “She instilled hope and love and laughter. She made this student feel a part of our school.
“I think this student’s life ended happy because she still felt a part of everything.”
Dedman said the student looked forward to seeing Gattis coming to her home.
“She made that connection, and there are 100 of those kinds of stories,” Dedman said. “Even though that student was going through tough times, with [Gattis’] constant encouragement, she reassured her that things would get better.
“She cares about all students, especially the ones who struggle.”
Gattis said one of the things she missed with being in administration was the one-on-one relationships she would form with students on campus.
“I am not in school as much,” she said. “In this position, you don’t see kids for that one-on-one relationship. I still have some relationships, just not as many as I did as a principal or counselor — and I miss that.
“Whether I was a teacher, principal or a counselor in the school, I worked directly with students. Here, I deal more with adults, teachers, parents and administrators.”
She said the biggest changes in education in her time have been accountability and technology.
“You want people to do their job, but it is also a pressure situation, for teachers and students,” she said. “Everybody wants to do well. Computers were just coming onto the market when I was in college. Everybody didn’t have one. Now we are one-on-one with devices, and I’ve got three screens in my office that I work off of.
“Technology has been another huge change in education.”
Gattis said teachers can bring things into the classroom that they couldn’t in the 1980s.
“For example, if she is teaching on seismic activity, she can not only bring film of an earthquake or a tsunami,” she said. “You can bring live footage into the classroom. I think technology has changed education [for the better].
“It has made it more real. If you can see things and touch things, you are going to learn quicker.”
She said technology has made education more visual.
“Teachers just don’t get up and lecture anymore,” she said. “It helps your audio learners and visual learners. I think it has made us more creative.”
Dedman, who is now retired, worked in education for 38 years and said Gattis is one of the top people he has worked with.
“She can look in the eyes of students and convince them they were going to be successful,” Dedman said. “Not everybody has that ability to communicate to students, encourage them and develop that trust.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.