Mr. Chris Wolf, the current Upper Elementary principal, is retiring after the 2023-2024 school year. Having worked in education for 27 years, he is much deserving of his retirement. It is clear that he has left a positive impact on the school when mentioning this to the UE secretaries. After a bit of lamenting on the prospect of him leaving, Mrs. Weis testifies that “He can turn a bad day into a good day with moments notice… He’s just so positive. He’s so good for the kids and really- I mean there’s so many good things.” She and her colleagues went on to tell of his ice cream and chocolate loving self, his commitment to making the kids laugh with his costumes, and his ability to light up any situation. It is abundantly clear that Mr. Wolf will be missed at School of the Osage’s Upper Elementary.
I have the opportunity to revisit the UE for an hour a day around lunch time to mentor students. Each day that I come in Mr. Wolf is in the Commons, talking and connecting with kids. In my own elementary years, I recall a specific conversation with Mr. Wolf in which he had asked me what I want to do when I grow up. Upon hearing that I wanted to be an architect, he sat down and told me all about his alma mater Kansas State and their amazing program. Despite me being a fifth grader, I remembered and held onto the prospect of going to K-State through high school. It’s telling how much of an inspirational and positive person that Mr. Wolf is that he could give advice to a ten year old and they remember it until their senior year. He is truly invested in his students' success.
Upon hearing about the amazing Mr. Wolf from the staff in his building, and reflecting on my own elementary years, it felt like quite the privilege to sit down with him and discuss his years in education.
G. Adams: “So, Mr. Wolf, what has led to becoming a principal?”
C. Wolf: “Growing up I always enjoyed working with kids. I coached youth baseball; I coached youth football. I was an umpire going through college. I had always worked with kids. And my dad encouraged me to go into education. I never thought I wanted to be a teacher. I didn’t really- to be honest I didn’t like school growing up. And being in school was the farthest thing from my mind. But after going to college I had a degree from Kansas State and I realized that everything that led me to that degree was working with kids. So I went back to school and got my teaching certification and I’ve never looked back since.”
G. Adams: “So- this has to be bitter sweet- as you are moving to the next phase of life you are getting ready for someone else to be in this office. What words of wisdom do you have for the next principal here?”
C. Wolf: “It is definitely bittersweet. Unfortunately we all do reach a point in our lives where we do, ya know, move on. But I’ll tell you that this place has been nothing but great for myself, for my kids. A piece of advice? You just need to enjoy every minute. Enjoy the ups and downs; the sadness, the happiness. ‘Cause in a position like this you’ll have every gamut throughout almost every week and you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. So just enjoy, enjoy the kids, enjoy the people. ‘Cause it is, it's the best job in the world.”
G. Adams: “We have one more for you. And I would love to hear a story here. What is your all time favorite memory of working as the UE principal?”
C. Wolf: “This might take me a minute here. You know, not a specific favorite memory but there have been multiple favorite memories. Our Accelerated Reader cafe, the old ones that we used to do, we had such great parental help setting all that up and seeing the kids so excited. And just be amazed at what our PTA created in the gym. Those are some of the neat memories. Our PBS assemblies that we do once a month. Being able to dress up- and sometimes I was coerced into dressing up. But just getting the kids excited and seeing how they would be laughing and screaming and just that atmosphere. And how could you ever go wrong with our sports day, looking back on our time, having the activities on the field in the morning and then, of course, the phenomenal water slide in the afternoon. Just the kids laughing and having a great time and the memories. Those events with the best staff you could possibly work with… just great memories.”
Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Wolf. Thank you for your commitment at Osage. You will be missed!