By:LARRY MAIER
As a boy, Peter Lynch dreamed of becoming a pediatrician. He would have made an excellent medical doctor. The man is smart, driven, and cares deeply about children.
But my family had five kids, and three in college at the time so [medical school] was not an option,Lynch remembered.
He settled for plan B and became an English teacher. It was a decision that Lynch has never once regretted and one the Baldwin community and a generation of students is very thankful he made.
After this school year, Dr. Peter Lynch, who has served the Baldwin School District for 35 years as a teacher, dean, principal, and assistant superintendent, will be leaving the district. Lynch won't be leaving the education field entirely. He has decided to take a professorship at Molloy College in Rockville Centre where he will teach education.
During his tenure in Baldwin schools, Lynch said he has had the good fortune to see many fine teachers at work. Now I want to be a part of creating excellent teachers,said Lynch.
The fact that the 59-year old Lynch has spent 35 years in the same place is not surprising. Lynch has always been somewhat of a homebody. He's lived in Baldwin since he was 6 months old and he attended Baldwin schools. Lynch received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees about ten minutes down the road at Hofstra University in Hempstead. He ventured a little further from home for his Doctorate, all the way to St. John's University in Queens.
And while becoming a teacher didn't bring the big bucks that a career as a pediatrician might have, Lynch said his rewards in the field have been great. Each of the three phases of his professional career, classroom teacher, dean and principal, and assistant superintendent has presented its own set of exciting challenges and unique compensations.
As an English teacher in the late 60's and early 70's, Lynch said his main ambition was to help his students celebrate what made each one of them special and to encourage them to take chances in their lives.
I found the greatest reward as an English teacher was to challenge students to use literature to improve their lives,said Lynch, who had just returned from observing a 6th grade class reading Robert Frost's The Road Less Traveled. The poem is one of Lynch's favorites and an example of the kind of empowering literature he enjoyed teaching.
In 1975, Lynch was made a full-time dean at the Baldwin Senior High School, a position where he was able to work closely with struggling students and their parents.
I loved working with troubled kids. As a dean you get to work with kids and parents who are in pain,said Lynch. It is a spectacular feeling to be able to help kids stay on the right path.
In 1982, Lynch was made principal at the high school. That same year, the school added the 9th grade and took on an additional 600 students in the building.
Two years later, the district faced a challenge not unlike one it faces today. New directives from the state's board of Regents and increased requirements for graduation meant the district had to revamp a number of courses and rethink curriculum.
But Lynch's favorite memories of his days as principal are of working with and helping students. He said he was particularly fond of visiting classrooms, interacting with students, making them think and laugh, and changing their perceptions about what a principal ought to be. He still enjoys visiting students throughout the district in their classrooms today.
In 1988, Lynch left the high school and moved to the district office where he became the assistant superintendent for instruction. Getting to know kindergarten through 12th grade instruction was another new challenge for Lynch.
Deborah Martin, principal of Meadow School, was impressed with Lynch's innate ability to relate to kids when he made the transition to assistant superintendent. He had to take on all things at the elementary level and I watched him do that with such a rapport and feel for young people,recalled Martin.
Martin thinks that Lynch's next group of students at Molloy College will be learning from one of the best.
His students will learn not just about curriculum and methods of instruction but about the human side of what we do and the importance of relationships we develop,said Martin. She also said that when Lynch leaves, the district will be losing not only a great educator, but also a great man. The entire staff has a lot of trust in Peter as a person.
Lynch said he is leaving the district because it is time for a new challenge. He is looking forward to some more time off in the summers to spend with his wife, Barbara, and their German shepherd, Zephyr. He is also looking forward to traveling. As a recently elected member of the Commission on Secondary Schools, Lynch will have the opportunity to visit and study schools around the world.
But don't for one second think that Lynch getting ready to wind it down and call it a career. He's just moving on. I'm sure there will be another challenge after Molloy College,said Lynch. I just haven't figured it out yet.
Friends and colleagues of Dr. Peter Lynch will honor him at a retirement celebration to be held at Westbury Manor at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29, 2001. Anyone wishing to receive more information should contact Mrs. Basilotta at Milburn School at (516) 377-9358.
At the end of the 2000-2001 school year, three Baldwin School District administrators, Dr. Peter Lynch, assistant superintendent of instruction, Dr. Alfred Townsend, Director of Music and Art, and Mr. Raymond Duffy
