'Family' says farewell to Best

By Sara Ganim

- sganim@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — In sending off their school district's decade-long superintendent, more than 200 first-graders made a book full of suggestions of what they think Patricia Best should do in her retirement.

CDT/Michelle Bixby

Superintendent of State College Area Schools, Patricia Best, hugs her friend Sherry Farrall, during her retirement celebration at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel Sunday, June 21, 2009. CDT/Michelle Bixby

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“Leave for one second, and then come back,” read Best’s husband, Tom Ray, to a group of about 100 county dignitaries honoring Best on Sunday at a reception at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

“I don’t like that one,” Ray said with a smile. Another suggestion, he continued: “Write a book.”

“That’s a possibility,” he commented. “Go get ice cream,” he read. That certainly will happen.

“Buy an elephant and ride to New York,” Ray read. He’ll provide photos if that one happens.

And the last one Ray shared, he said, was the most telling of his wife.

“Be happy, relax, and think of me and my mom,” Ray read.

“That’s my favorite,” he said. Best is retiring June 30 after 10 years on the job — dubbed by many Sunday as a 24- hour-a-day gig — and 31 years in the district. She started in 1978 as a guidance counselor.

Ray, who retired two years ago, said: “Without a doubt she’s ready. I’ve never seen her happier than she’s been in the last week.”

As for what she’ll do? Suggestions are plenty.

State College school board President Rick Madore gave her a fishing bait kit, with bait of all grades to get her started.

James Nolan, of the Penn State College of Education — of which Best is a graduate who makes them “Penn State proud” — noted her years of involvement and suggested more.

“We’ll look forward to more now that you’ll have free time,” Nolan said, laughing.

State College Mayor Bill Welch said: “While some of you think of retirement as fishing ... my inner 14-year-old tells me to think of it as endless summer vacation.”

Best herself compared the crowd Sunday to “a family reunion.” Guest speakers included 30-year friend and fellow superintendent Rita Jones, and her father, brother and sister- in-law from Canton, Ohio.

“I’ve watched her blossom and grow,” Jones said, in one of the more sentimental speeches. “In every occasion of leadership, in all the activities and accomplishments, Patricia pursued the work with her customary thoughtfulness, patience, directness, optimism and heart.”

“She supported growth,” Jones continued, “supported dreams, and supported future thinking for kids.”

Another colleague, Jim Weaver, of the state Education Association, took note of how students were always her priority when she made decisions.

“Her joy in celebrating the achievements of staff and students was obvious and sincere,” Weaver said.

Best echoed that, telling a story about how “date night” with her husband was often dinner before a student production. She shared a recent story, where at one out-of-state event someone asked her which student was hers. “All of them,” she said.

The event raised $4,000 for Best’s fund for instructional innovation, which teachers can use for student activities.

“Talk about legacy,” Best said, thanking the crowd. “It just means the world.”

During the three-hour event, state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, honored her with a citation from the House of Representatives.

“Pick a virtue, she’s got it,” Welch told the crowd early on.

And they did, rattling off quality after quality.

Best has been “all things to all people,” Welch said.

“She has been patient and professional in circumstances and situations that would test the best of us,” Welch said.

It will be different than the usual for the past decade — board meetings until midnight, snow days that start at 5 a.m. and the in-between hustle bustle.

No longer will Ray need to check C-NET at midnight Mondays, “to have some inkling of where your wife is at,” Best said.

“Laughter shared, different moments conquered, and most important, children taught and nurtured,” she told the crowd.

One of those children, a fifth-grader who sent her a goodbye note, summed it up well. He thanked her for being “the boss of the bosses,” because they are the “boss of the teachers, who taught us a lot.”

“P.S.,” the boy wrote, “I hope you have the best time of your life, not working.”