By Samantha Sinclair
CNI News Service
Dr. Octavious Mulligan, a former assistant principal at multiple Habersham County Schools, is retiring from a long career in education.
Mulligan is finishing up his career this school year as the principal at Tesnatee Gap Elementary School in White County.
White County Superintendent Laurie Burkett said she was proud of the work both Mulligan and McDonald have done for students and the school system over the years.
She said Mulligan’s work starts each morning as he greets children in the drop off line.
“I think he’s done an amazing job with the culture and climate at TGap,” she said. “I think it’s a really happy place.”
Mulligan, who is retiring Aug. 1 after 30 years in education, didn’t plan on a career in education. In fact, at one point growing up, he wasn’t likely to be seen in school.
He grew up in Yonkers, N.Y, and in junior high school, he started hanging out with a crowd that wasn’t interested in going to school. He skipped a lot of school.
It wasn’t until he moved to Thomson, Ga., in 10th grade that things changed for him. He said everyone in Thomson was doing what they needed to do for school, and he followed the crowd.
He got into playing basketball, and got a basketball scholarship for Piedmont. He had to keep his grades up to stay eligible, and a friend advised him to take an intro to education class to help him maintain eligibility.
“And I enjoyed it,” Mulligan said.
He then got involved with a child development center and had to teach the letter “U” one day. So, he wore his basketball uniform to help teach the kids about the letter. The lesson, and the kids’ enthusiasm for it, inspired him to become a K-5 teacher.
“I was like, this is what I can do,” Mulligan said.
He taught elementary school for 10 years at White Sulphur Elementary School in Gainesville.
“I felt like I could get the younger ones’ attention and hold it because my attention is like theirs,” Mulligan said.
He was also providing something he didn’t have growing up.
“When I was in elementary school, I never had a male principal, I never had a male teacher,” Mulligan said, noting typically men taught in middle and high school.
Throughout his career, he’s worked in every level. After teaching in Gainesville, he went on to Habersham County where became assistant principal at Cornelia Elementary for two years. He then served as assistant principal at South Habersham Middle School for a year before moving to the same role at Habersham Central High School in 2007.
“I feel like I can offer some good to each level,” Mulligan said.
For the older kids, he would show his transcripts from ninth grade, which he kept handy in the backpack he brought to school every day.
He also made a decision to become a part of the community where he teaches – growing up, none of his teachers lived in his apartment building, and he doesn’t think any of them even lived in the area.
When he got hired in White County in 2014, he told his wife they were going to move to White County. “They need to see you in the community,” Mulligan said of the students. “That means something.”
After working at the high school for a year and the ninth grade academy for year, he was tasked to build the district’s new elementary school out of the intermediate school with the staff.
As a team, they named the new school Tesnatee Gap Elementary.
He said it was tough sharing the news of his retirement with his staff on Thursday.
“I said, ‘You guys did something special,’” he said. “Tesnatee Gap Elementary came together because of all these people.”
He knew when they built this school that it would be his last. “I wouldn’t leave here and go somewhere else to work,” Mulligan said. “When I came here, I said I was going to retire here.”
When he retires, he’s going to miss the kids the most.
“I think that’s what keeps me going,” Mulligan said.
When he’s having a bad day, all he has to do is visit the cafeteria. Kids wave, hug, air hug, and even offer to share their lunch with him. “Then I forget about my day and realize, you’re here for them,” he said.
He got teary-eyed thinking about his last day with the kids, the last drop off line, and the last of 20 dogs he’ll pet in cars that day.
His retirement was just one of those things that came to him.
“I just felt it was time for me to do something else,” Mulligan said.
He also wanted to retire while he was still happy, and didn’t want to retire because he became unhappy.
“I want to miss it,” he said.
He never thought about working in White County, and when Dr. MayKay Berry asked him for his resume for an open position, he didn’t send it. She had to ask him again for that resume.
He originally had a different thought about working here.
“How can a brother work in White County?” he said he thought. “But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
He said he’s worked with some amazing people, and he’s going to miss daily interactions with parents.
“I’m thankful and blessed that I even had the opportunity to work in White County,” Mulligan said. “It’s a special place.”
Mulligan plans to use his free time in retirement to watch his son play basketball at Piedmont. His other son is across the country at University of Southern California.
He also plans to continue working at Mountain Education Charter School, and he might consider getting on the substitute list for White County Schools.
“Whatever I do, I would like it to be with students,” Mulligan said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll find something to do.”