Mr. Odierno Returns from a
Year-Long Sabbatical to Retire
Distinguished English teacher retires at end of 2012-2013 school year
Megan Ardovini '13
Managing Editor/The Stampede
A
fter thirty-six years of teaching,
English teacher, Mr. Alfred Odierno,
had reached a crossroad. Two roads
diverged: to continue on that which
is well known or to embark on one unfamiliar
and unknown.
With the support of administration, he began
a year-long break from teaching, known as a
sabbatical. This offered a chance to try life as a
“non-teacher,” as he called it, and spend time
discerning whether he had reached the stage in
his life where he wanted to retire.
“Ultimately I decided that I’ve made my
contribution to McNamara and education and
that it is time for me to call it a career and move
on to the next stage of life,” said Mr. Odierno.
“Change allows McNamara to continue to grow
and prosper with the outstanding talent and
leadership it has, and for a next generation of
students and teachers to bring their abilities and
talents to our school just as previous generations
have done.”
This decision was not an easy one nor one that
he was ready to make last year. "I wasn't ready
to walk away from something I'd been doing so
long...I wasn't quite ready either to cut the cord
from a place and profession I valued so much,"
Mr. Odierno said. Therefore, President/CEO
Mr. Marco J. Clark discussed the possibility of a
sabbatical with Mr. Odierno.
A Year in Sabbatical
A sabbatical is an extended leave with an
educational component to it. They can either
be paid, or unpaid, like Mr. Odierno's was. For
foreign language teachers, this usually means
time to travel to other countries. For science
teachers, it usually allows time to do some travel
and in-depth experiments. For English teachers
like Mr. Odierno, sabbaticals give teachers time
to “sit home and read.” Regardless of the subject
5 April 2011 — Alfred Odierno visiting the Shakespeare Festival that he helped found and support
during his tenure in the English department. (Photo by Charles Shryock IV)
area, sabbaticals give teachers the chance to
step back, learn more, become better as a whole
person and take a break from the demands of
teaching. “Teaching is too important not to be
sure you’re in the right profession for the right
reasons, and sometimes you have to catch your
breath,” Mr. Odierno said about the reason for
his sabbatical.
The system of sabbaticals benefits not only a
teacher or professor, but also the school. Not
all schools grant sabbaticals, but those that do
demonstrate an investment in their faculty.
Sabbaticals are generally utilized by experienced
faculty members who have been working for
twenty or more years. Being able to offer an
incentive to keep older, experienced faculty
members creates a diversified faculty with young
and old who are able to learn from each other.
Even before taking a sabbatical, Mr. Odierno
taught part-time last year as the school was able
to accommodate the increased difficulty it had
become for him to maintain a full schedule.
Even so, leaving behind his role as a teacher for
a year was indeed a change, but one that he had
faith in the school community to accommodate
well. Before leaving last June, Mr. Odierno said,
“I’ve been here so long and I’m so weird that I
wouldn’t leave this place for a minute if I didn’t
know I was surrounded by faculty members that
could make this place as awesome as it can be.”
When talking to Mr. Odierno last June,
he anticipated one of two results from his
upcoming year off. The first option would be
that he would recognize how nice it was to not
have to be responsible for doing so much, and
will enjoy this break so much after thirty six
years that he would retire after a long time at
McNamara satisfied with the time he spent here.
The alternative would be that he would “miss
this place desperately” and come running back.
While in the end he went with the first scenario,
he was not ready to make this decision right away
and wanted to take time for internal reflection
and experience what answers the sabbatical had
to give.
Over the course of the current school year, Mr.
Odierno maintained some connections with the
school and by no means completely extracted
himself from the school community. “There were
some things I did with the school during the
time that were very enjoyable,” said Mr. Odierno.
“I had an opportunity to make a presentation to
many of our alumni benefactors and I played a
small role in assisting in the new principal search
process.”
Yet, for most of the sabbatical it seemed almost
as a “summer vacation” with no due dates,
progress reports, getting up at six, or time spent
thinking of ways to come up with impossible
vocabulary quizzes. This gave Mr. Odierno time
for family and travel and the ability to see what
life is like when it doesn’t revolve around school
responsibilities.
In the end, the decision was made that the next
step in Mr. Odierno’s life was to retire from
teaching after nearly 40 years. “Teaching always
kind of came easy. It was something I always
wanted to do, and I gained from every minute of
those 40 years,” Mr. Odierno said. “But being in
education is hard work as a student or teacher.”
When preparing to take his sabbatical, a very
important component, to Mr. Odierno, was that
he would still be able to continue to call himself
a teacher at Bishop McNamara. Likewise, it
was important for those students lucky enough
to have been in his class to continue to include
Mr. Odierno as an important part of their high
school experience.
Impact on McNamara
Over 32 years, Mr. Odierno has pioneered,
spearheaded, organized, and been an integral