Sally O'Brien: Fixture for Clinton Schools

After years of being a familiar face in the Clinton school system, Sally O'Brien is stepping down from her volunteer duties once her youngest graduates this June.

"Sean is a senior here so this is it-I'm retiring. It's sad and bittersweet because I've been very involved, so it's odd to see it come to an end," she says.

Sally and her husband of 22 years, Kevin, moved to Clinton in 1990 and she immediately felt it was important to get involved in her two children's schools. Earning an associate's degree in secretarial science and a bachelor's degree in elementary education allowed her to work and substitute teach in the schools.

She was secretary and president of Friends of Joel and was involved with the Friends of Pierson. Once her oldest child Kaitlyn entered Morgan, Sally became a member of the Morgan Alliance Committee (MAC) and now serves as the secretary. Through MAC, she helps coordinate several events at the high school including the upcoming second annual Husky Helper Day.

"One of our members works at a different high school where they do something similar to Husky Helper Day, so we all agreed it would be great if we can do that for our school," she says. "We ended up contacting several different organizations in town and ended up having over 500 kids participate."

Husky Helper Day turned into a huge success, with students and staff helping out all over town. From outdoors to inside, school buildings to town facilities, children and adults all alike participated in this first-time school event. Sally and other MAC members are currently gearing up for the May 18 event and hoping for great weather like last year.

Sally has also been a fixture of Morgan's Project Graduation. As co-chair, she helps organize fundraisers leading up to graduation night as well as overseeing details about the location and events for the night.

"Project Graduation has to be my favorite group because we all have kids the same age and we've all kind of grown up together with that," she says. "We all have seniors and we've been through it all-all these years-so we can joke and laugh and say, 'Oh, remember that?'"

This year, the students took a survey and the majority wanted the Project Graduation event ocation to be off campus, as it was last school year. The location has been chosen for the highly anticipated night, but is undisclosed to students at this time.

"It's a great location," Sally says. "The people that are doing it plan these games that really bring all the kids in to participate together. I really like that idea."

Sally is now focusing on planning fundraisers for the event, like the Thursday, Feb. 2 hypnotist show at Morgan and the April 28 tag sale.

Sally is proud that she has had the time to dedicate to her children and their education. Her efforts have helped her two children become more involved as well. Kaitlyn, who was considered to be a shy child, grew into a mature teenager who was able to muster up courage by holding a school assembly on recycling. Sean is also heavily involved as a former class president and current president of student council.

Looking back on her years of dedication and involvement, Sally says it's the people she's gotten to know and the close relationships she's formed that she will miss the most.

"The people-I've gotten to know some really great people that I wouldn't have gotten to know without being involved with all these things," Sally says. "It's memories that I'll always have to hold from these experiences."