BY JANET BERNOSKY, Eastern Shore Post —
Jacquelyn “Jackie” Holder recently retired from Northampton County Public Schools after 43 years of employment, with the last 25 spent as the head custodian at Kiptopeke Elementary School.
Self-described as “outspoken, but fair,” Holder said she would tell her employees, “When I go in that school door in the morning, I am your boss. I have no friends until I leave through that door at night.”
Holder was one of several in Northampton County who retired from the public school system at the end of the last school year.
Gwyn Coghill, who was her principal for several years at Kiptopeke until she retired in 2009, described Holder as the kind of employee who went above and beyond what was expected in her job description.
“Jackie often got to school early and would answer the phones, especially in bad weather, until the office staff arrived,” said Coghill.
“This was just one of many things she did to help out.”
The fact that she often arrived early was not lost on Coghill, especially considering that Holder didn’t drive and depended on others for transportation.
While Holder herself said she never made her employees do anything she couldn’t or wouldn’t do herself, this proved especially interesting when a brand new riding mower arrived at the school, said Coghill.
“Jackie, who didn’t drive a car, got up on that thing and learned how to ride it before she would let her staff on it,” said Coghill.
Holder began her career with Northampton Schools at Cheriton Primary School not too long after graduating from Cape Charles High School in 1978.
She then moved on to work at Kiptopeke until her retirement.
Eventually, she said she might look for a job close to home in Cape Charles that she could ride her bike to.
For now, though, Holder has plans to travel a bit.
“I’d never flown on a plane until a few years ago when I went to Hawaii with my relatives,” she said. “I have a few other places I’d like to see at some point.”
Other Northampton retirees include: Keith Moody, custodian; James Baker, head custodian; Amy Silva, teacher; Sandra Drummond, associate superintendent; Terrie Buege, central office; Charlene Jenrette, central office; Darlene Brown, teacher; Irene Collins, health assistant; Donna Hinman, technology lab assistant; Thomas Mulligan, teacher; Reuben Quanbeck, teacher; Carolyn Weatherly, instructional assistant; and Ruby Crumb, instructional assistant.
