As Glenbard West principal Jane Thorsen retires (effective on Monday) after 34 years of work in the educational field, she recalls her seven years as head Hilltopper as "a flash of lightning [that has] just gone so quickly," the Suburban Life reports.
“It seems like I was just walking in the front door," Thorsen told the paper, adding that "nothing that happened here happened because of me... It happened because of the community and the students and the parents.”
According to the paper, Thorsen's accomplishments include elevating West to the fifth-best high school in Illinois, according to a 2012 Washington Post list, making the school an AP Majority School and, after many battles, finally kicking off the renovation of Memorial Field.
“You [could] see that — wherever she is, whatever she’s doing — she really has the students’ interests as a central focal point,” Superintendent David Larson told the paper.
Thorsen will be replaced as principal by Peter Monaghan, the school's former assistant principal for student services. Thorsen, meanwhile, plans to charge ahead into retirement working on her "bucket list," the paper said, including outdoorsy activities, flying lessons and world travel.
Read the full story at the Suburban Life website.
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