New principals return ‘home’ to Lincoln School in Ottawa

Kimberly Hughes and Lindsay Ferrari will be closer to home this fall after accepting principal positions in Lincoln School in Ottawa.

Hughes, a native of Cornell and in the first class from that town to graduate from Flanagan-Cornell High School, and Ferrari, a Spring Valley native and graduate of Hall High School, will be the principal and assistant principal, respectively, at Lincoln School in Ottawa this coming year.

Both are happy to adjust their careers in education to the administrative side of life. Hughes is closer to her hometown, and Ferrari is now in the place she had her first job in education.

Hughes has been in education for 30 years, all in special education and with 22 years in the classroom, much of that in the Livingston County area “all up and down Route 116.”

After her first job at the Salem Children’s Home in the Flanagan-Cornell district, she had stops in special education in Pontiac, Saunemin and most recently the Cullom Tri-Point school district.

All along the way, she’s been in leadership roles in her field, within the classrooms and with her fellow teachers, so being in charge is nothing new for her.

When an opening in Tri-Point’s special ed coop’s administration came open, Hughes jumped at it and held that post for eight years. In the meantime, she received her superintendent’s certification, again to keep herself “fresh and learning, being the best you can be as a professional.”

Eventually, she began to look for something a little different and she’s found a new challenge at Lincoln, so she recently moved back to the farm in Cornell her family has owned since 1883.

“I never intended to be an administrator,” Hughes said. “I’m just somebody that likes to learn a lot and get better at what I do, so it just made sense to be top get my administrative degree. Then I just sat on it for a really long time. I just wasn’t super interested … Teacher are, of course, in the trenches, so they have a direct impact on the students, but administrators are important in making sure all those arrows are pointed in the same direction. We’re working to support our teachers in whatever way we can.

“It was nice to have the leadership roles while I was still being directly hands-on with the kids. The classroom is so near and dear to my heart … but though I may wear an administrative hat, I’m always a teacher.”

Ferrari, a graduate of Northern Illinois University, is in her 11th year in education, seven years of that teaching preschool and four years of first grade. After teaching pre-kindergarten in Granville and at Ottawa Lincoln, she moved on to Peru, where she began the Bright Futures preschool program from scratch, eventually helping to write the grant applications that have since allowed it to expand into the full-day pre-K she initially taught.

Having experienced the full-day classroom, Ferrari moved up to first grade and had been there the past four years before coming back to Ottawa.

Along the way, she directed the dance team at Hall High School, was an active part in the teachers union and serves on the Spring Valley Elementary School Board.

“I was pregnant with my first child as I went for my administrative certificate (at University of St. Francis) and literally had my last class with my former teacher, Steve Siska, as I was going into labor,” Ferrari said with a laugh.

“I didn’t intend to use my certificate as I already had my master’s in early childhood education. I just thought I’d try for another while I was still young. I just wanted to continue learning. Eventually, I found it to be something I was interested in and forever I interviewed ... but it always came down to their wanting experience, and you can’t get experience unless you get the job. Thankfully, Ottawa has given me the chance to get that experience.

“I feel (administration) is a way to reach all the kids in a school, not just the 20 in one classroom, and I looked forward to helping Kim and everyone at Lincoln do that.”