LOCAL LEGENDS

JARRY HILLMAN

With over a quarter century of helping students complete their high school education, Jarry Hillman has many memories and success stories that still bring a smile to his face in retirement. Originally, from Hays, Kansas, Hillman and his wife moved to Enid in 1976 to expand his father’s jewelry business. Once they started a family, he began to look for another career path to allow him to spend more time at home and not on the road all the time. They had two children, Jennifer and Jason, and the next chapter began for Hillman. He went back to his original college career path and used his education to work at Enid State School, teaching students with developmental disabilities. He has said that this time in his career was monumental and crucial for forming his outlook on education.

In 1992, Hillman received a call from Enid Public School to interview for a new adventure. The district was starting a new alternative school program, and Hillman said, “what’s an alternative school?” At that time, that was not heard of around Oklahoma. Hillman said, “when this started, they said, ‘if you can save one kid, keep one kid from dropping out, it’s worth it. We were hoping it would last at least one year.” He never dreamed that the school would go on to graduate hundreds of students and win multiple awards including the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Dropout Prevention Program of the year, along with the National Dropout/Recovery/Intervention/ Prevention Program of the year.

Some of the biggest challenges Hillman faced while creating this program was helping the community realize this school was not “for bad kids”, or “trouble makers.” When looking at the students over the years at Lincoln, Hillman said those statements could not have been further from the truth. There was not one thing that brought kids to the alternative school, and no two students' situation was alike. Some students worked full-time jobs to support their families and needed a different schedule from the traditional school setting, some kids slept in their car and needed more support, some kids had anxiety and depression that the smaller class size better fit their needs, some were teen parents, some had trauma that led to attendance issues, and the list could go on and on. The one thing the students all had in common was they wanted to finish their high school diploma.

Hillman was an out-of-the-box principal, not typically caught in a tie or suit, but rather in dress clothes and tennis shoes. “My goal was to teach these students how to have success, but also to enjoy life,” he said. Hillman always went the extra mile, but not always the textbook way. He wrote rap songs, dressed in a gorilla costume, picked up students who could not get there, and visited his students who had given birth at the hospital, just to name a few. He wanted them to know someone cared for them and that they were important. He is humble about his career and said “the students taught and continue to teach me so much, even in retirement. I hope that what I did contributed back to them. Having the opportunity to inspire and be a part of hundreds of lives is nothing short of priceless.”

Hillman now keeps busy being an avid fan of Kansas University basketball, enjoying time with his wife Jenny, hunting, and working with his two grandsons in Freedom on their ranch. He is also an avid fan of Enid High sports, where he loves watching his other two grandchildren, Brock and Emma Sullivan, play multiple sports for EHS. Even though Jarry would not consider himself one, He is a true “Local Legend.”