By Taylor Boggs ’16, Perspectives Section Editor
“Dedicated, organized and compassionate,” Ms. Royal has dedicated the last eight years of her life to supporting students in the Country Day community. Next year, Ms. Royal will be working as the school psychologist in a public elementary school. However, within five years she sees herself returning to private Upper Schools. “Private and public schools require different tasks in my position,” Ms. Royal said. “In a public school I will work more with reading interventions and academics. At private schools there is greater chance to do a variety of things: I get to do whatever needs to be done because it is an environment in which the faculty fill in where they are needed.”
Although she “does not know if [she] will have the same opportunities at a public school,” Ms. Royal is looking forward to being closer to her family in Columbus. “I am excited to spend more time with my brothers, parents, nieces and nephews.” Even after the psychologist is gone, her legacy will live on in many parts of the school, especially in the Peer Mentoring program. “After Mr. Dilinghman left, I made the program my own and taught the mentors more about how to run a classroom,” Ms. Royal said. Upper School History teacher Dr. Jeremiah McCall will take over the program next year. “I’m sure he will make it his own as well, but I think that is the part of the school that I will leave the most lasting impact on,” Ms. Royal said. Simply stated, it is one of the most rewarding activities that Ms. Royal has taken part in during her tenure at Country Day.
This is not the only program that Ms. Royal has been involved in at Country Day however. For three years she worked as one of the volleyball coaches and she later coached junior varsity tennis for two years. She stopped coaching after she had her first child. And her children have greatly impacted her hobbies in other ways as well. While Ms. Royal loves to play tennis, hike, and read books, “most of [her] time is spent with [her] kids at the museum center, art classes or story times.”
Ms. Royal received her degree from Miami University and worked at Milford for a year before applying for a position at Country Day. “I always knew that I wanted to work in schools and CCD just seemed like an appealing place to work. I liked the feeling of the school and the faculty all working together,” said Royal. “Quite honestly I didn’t really know what I was getting into,” she admits because she was fresh out of school. “I did a lot with high school aged students in practicum and graduate school and it was an age that I wanted to work with,” stated the psychologist,” but I don’t consider myself solely a psychologist for Upper School students.”
Ms. Royal believes that it is important to have a psychologist in a school so that students have someone to confide in and trust. “The most rewarding part of [my] job is when you feel like you have made a positive difference in someone’s day or week and you have helped somebody,” says Ms. Royal.
She is definitely going to miss the students and teachers and free lunches when she takes the next step in her career. “I feel like I have grown professionally and personally being at Country Day and I will always remember the experiences. My colleagues have pushed me to be a better person.” Furthermore, Ms. Royal believes that Country Day has taught her “the importance of community and being there for other people” and she will “always take that lesson from here.”
“I feel so blessed to be able to have been here and it is really hard to leave,” said Ms. Royal. “I think that the atmosphere is going to change next year as the faculty is reforming, but it might be some good energy for the school.” Math Department Chairman Greg Faulhaber said that Ms. Royal “brings a great calm to the students. In a building that is full of stress, she can bring a great amount of ease.” Mr. Faulhaber also stated that he understands that because “that is [his] approach as well.” Likewise, “What Ms. Royal does that benefits a lot of students; she is also a great listener.”
After a great start to her career, we wish Ms. Royal the best in all of her future endeavors.
