New students heading to the principal’s office at Clover Valley Elementary School are often surprised to find toys there. Among the toys, scattered through the office, are a wooden lobster and a Tootsie Roll Factory.

Sadly, those toys will disappear at the end of the school year when Principal Ric Packard retires. He has been principal at Clover Valley Elementary for the past four years. Prior to that he taught fourth grade and fifth grade in Vancouver, Wash.

“I’m going to miss it terribly,” Packard said. “Every time I walk down the hall, I get hugs from a dozen kids.”

Smiling, he recalled that, during a fund-raiser for the tsunami survivors, one of the kindergarten students referred to them at the “salami people.”

“I don’t regret for one minute taking this job,” Packard said.

Even though he loves the time with the students, he said recent changes have posed extra challenges in running an elementary school.

“The standards-based movement puts a great deal of responsibilities on principals,” Packard said. While he agreed with the need for standards such as the WASL test, he hopes it doesn’t sacrifice the fun and engaging learning programs that also help students.

Since becoming a principal after 26 years of teaching, Packard said he learned that the job requires flexibility to handle various situations.

“You never know what’s on the other end of the phone,” Packard said. He fields calls ranging from receiving praise from a parent to having to deal with any number of emergencies students may have.

With retirement looming, Packard says education will remain a part of his life. He is heading to Skagit Valley College where he will prepare new teachers entering the field through the education classes offered by Western Washington University.

He hopes his years of practical experience will complement the concepts students learn in the classroom, making their transition to the job easier.

“It soon becomes very apparent that a large part of the job is on-the-job training,” Packard said.

An Oak Harbor resident, he plans to remain in the area when he retires. Most of his children live in the Puget Sound area.

Packard isn’t the only principal retiring this from the Oak Harbor School District. Marietta Wiener, principal at Olympic View Elementary School, is also leaving.

The Oak Harbor School Board named Sandee Oehring principal of Olympic View Elementary School during a March 28 meeting. However, no one has been selected to fill Packard’s position yet.

Joe Hunt, school district communications director, said nine candidates were recently interviewed for both positions. Each were interviewed by a panel of teachers, parents and administrators.

He said officials are looking at the pool of applications to see if any candidates are qualified for Packard’s position.