Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles on ‘Meet Our Neighbor’. Previous stories introduced Linden Showalter, a local CPA who is also a world record holding runner; Mohammed Haq, a local physician and artist; Bill Kohler, Mr. Main Street Waynesboro.
Today we meet the leader/coordinator of Waynesboro’s education system, the superintendent of Waynesboro Area School District, Dr Rita Sterner-Hine. Since my interview, I have struggled to do justice to the complexity of her life and personhood.
Like a cut gem, the light and image you see reflects which facets you focus upon. Born at Waynesboro Hospital, she moved with her family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area for her father’s engineering job. They returned to Greencastle for her middle and high school years where she embraced the return to her hometown and participated in a variety of school and athletic activities
Even as a youngster, she anticipated and planned. On career day, she considered being a mortician, but a brief trip to a mortuary ended that. She considered being a politician. Terry Punt acknowledged that interest and explored it with her. She attended Shippensburg University and graduated with a degree in public administration.
Her father encouraged a Plan B, so she took more undergrad classes for the teaching certificate and studied for a master’s degree. Her first student teaching was at Waynesboro Area Middle School. Her second student teaching placement was Frankfurt American High School in Germany. This opportunity enhanced the cross-cultural background she developed from her family. Her mother was born in Paraguay; her grandfather was German. Rita dresses with a Latino flair. She also seeks out and enjoys a wide variety of food styles and travel experiences.
She taught seventh grade world cultures, eighth grade American cultures, became assistant, then principal of Hooverville, which is the smallest Waynesboro Area School District school. At that time, the Hooverville principal was also the director of almost everything else, including the newsletter, emergency management and various other roles for the WASD. That experience gave her wide exposure to all the active complexities of a local school district.
Since her family bought a home in the Hooverville area, before she took the job, her children attended Hooverville. Both her children were involved in traveling soccer, tennis and basketball. She spent countless hours in her car working on her doctorate in educational leadership and a “Letter of Eligibility” to become a superintendent. Her doctoral studies were connected to the academic achievements and attributions that parents and teachers sometimes impose on learners based on whether they are boys or girls.
She became principal of Summitview and proudly led that school to be named one of the top 100 K-6 schools in Pennsylvania. In 2017 she became assistant superintendent. Under Dr. Todd Klein’s leadership, they initiated First Choice, initiated a pre-K program, offered all-day kindergarten, expanded college opportunities as well as technology integration, established the Trauma Informed Classrooms K-12, and kept Waynesboro schools open during Covid.
In 2022 she was named superintendent. She reports having the privilege of working for more than 33 years in Waynesboro Area School District and states she is blessed to work with an amazing school board, amazing administrators, faculty, staff, parents and community. The Waynesboro Area Business, Education, and Community Foundation also deserves thanks for so many innovative ways of supporting learners. She believes that children are our nation’s most valuable resource and that education is a special calling.
When asked to describe herself, Dr. Sterner-Hine reports she is intentional and empathetic. By habit, training and commitment, she is observant. As an administrator she attends to potential safety or security issues. Like most administrators who must operate in both the now and the future, she has learned to listen without necessarily agreeing. She tries to understand the situation and the circumstances. Do they need a counselor? Do they need a coach? Do they need straightforward directions, “this needs to happen”?
She acknowledges that many kids come to the educational setting with multiple needs, and she is concerned about the amount of social media they are exposed to. She is concerned about the importance of a community and contacts who can give each child personal feedback about who they are and how they are. It needs to come from a variety of points of view and experience – family, neighbors, jobs, sports, scouts, school, church, more than from the net/web/YouTube, which can give children inappropriate exposure to violence, to pornography, to people acting in destructive ways.
There are millions of YouTube videos out there which can influence someone at a vulnerable moment. Dr. Sterner-Hine believes unless there can be a balance, with positive interaction with reasonable adults, and the future is going to be very problematic.
Dr. Sterner-Hine developed a group of friends during college sorority years at Shippensburg which even today supports and sustains her. Several are educators and offer their perspectives on school issues. They still share family and fun, adventures and a commitment to live well.
Dr. Sterner-Hine thinks of herself as well organized but points around her office to show that doesn’t always translate as “neat and tidy.” Her husband says she is the best problem solver he has ever met. Many people say she is nice, but she sometimes must be “standoffish” in public when being the superintendent.
Families often have particular views of who we are. Her son once said Dr. Sterner-Hine was “aggressive,” which she felt was harsh and was more comfortable with Evan’s wife’s word,” driven.” Her son, Evan, was born prematurely and spent 40 days in NICU at Hershey Medical Center. Despite the immense initial trauma, and all the risks of prematurity, he grew up to become a competitive college tennis player. Her daughter, Rachel, and son, Evan, are both in finance like their dad… “because he didn’t always bring work home,” she said. Rachel is also married and has two beautiful daughters (who look like grandmom). Her husband of 31 years, Derek, says she is the best problem solver he has ever known, although he must remind her that she does not have to “solve” every problem. The best compliment she has ever received was that “she raised good kids who have grown up to be amazing adults.”
Always learning, she recently took a psychometric test on “work styles” which suggested she was naturally gifted at deriving energy and joy from providing others with encouragement and assistance for projects and tasks. Her results also suggested her major frustration is people sitting on “I wonder.” She likes to get things done. She is most grateful for the solid foundation from her parents about her relationship with God, to see the big picture despite circumstances, to know this is not our final home.
