Standing in the main office of Meadowdale High School, a student leaned forward and shared startling news with office manager Sue Raymond.
He just discovered his pet snake had slithered into his backpack overnight.
When principal Norm Hoffman heard the news, he jokingly offered a solution to the problem — Raymond could drive the student home.
“He knows I’m deathly afraid of snakes,” Raymond laughed.
The situation may have been cleared up that day, but Hoffman wasn’t ready to let go of the issue – not when there was an opportunity to joke around.
The next morning, Raymond opened a desk drawer and was startled to discover a rubber snake.
With less than a week of school left, Hoffman’s jokes at Meadowdale High School will soon be ending. As his decade-long tenure as the chief at Meadowdale comes to an end this month, he will hang up his walkie talkie and enjoy retirement.
Raymond, who has worked with Hoffman the entire 11 years he’s been at Meadowdale – one year as assistant principal and 10 as principal – enjoys his sense of humor, even when she’s on the receiving end of jokes.
“He’s been the best boss I’ve ever had,” Raymond said.
His guidance and fairness has been a driving force behind the student’s success, she said.
“He always takes the time to talk to kids,” Raymond said.
Students also recognize this.
Senior Blaze Robertson became familiar with Hoffman through her involvement in school activities, including serving as student body secretary and being a member of the cheer squad.
“He does a good job of remembering as many people as he can,” Robertson said.
In the halls, he makes a point of saying hello or sharing a wink with a passing student, she said.
Hoffman previously served as principal at Garfield-Palouse High School in Eastern Washington, and spent half of his career in the La Conner School District. Building a good relationship with students and maintaining a comfortable environment for learning were Hoffman’s goals when he arrived at Meadowdale. He believes these goals have been accomplished.
“The thing that I’m happiest about is students like being here,” Hoffman said.
Recently, a student at Meadowdale invited a friend from another school to attend her classes. When introduced to Hoffman, the visitor noted the friendliness of students and their eagerness to be at school.
“That was the kind of atmosphere we wanted to create,” Hoffman said.
Assistant superintendent Ken Limón said Hoffman always has a kind word to say and a smile on his face. Limón said Hoffman appears to know something about or can share some little tidbit of knowledge with each student.
“That seems to provide individual connections between him and the student,” Limón said.
During his time at Meadowdale, Hoffman successfully saw the rebuild of the school’s facility and also oversaw the transition of mascots – from the former Chiefs, which was considered by some to have racial overtones, to the current Mavericks.
Teachers and students moved into the new buildings during the spring of 1998, and the mascot change became official the fall of 1998.
“If we were ever going to make the (mascot) change, we decided (during the rebuild) would be the best opportunity,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman and his wife, Cathy, built a home on his family’s farm near Edison in Skagit County a year ago. His mother still lives on the farm, and he looks forward to living there and spending more time with his family, although he will miss the Meadowdale community.
“I think I’ll miss an awful lot of things about working here,” Hoffman said.
Limón said Hoffman has been a great support for other high school administrators, and he will be missed.
“He’s known for his wise leadership,” Limón said. “He balances doing the right things for kids with common sense. That’s very important.”
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