Penny Clemens takes over as superintendent of the Diocese of Gaylord
GAYLORD — For Penny Clemens, becoming an educator was always a natural fit.
Growing up she would play teacher, and she later made it her career. Now, she's been hired as the superintendent of the Diocese of Gaylord.
Clemens started working as a teacher at the Catholic school she went to herself in Lapeer, Bishop Kelley Catholic School. She taught there for 19 years before being approached by the principal who planned to retire. Clemens then applied for the role and got it.
She was the principal for five years before deciding to move closer up north, where she worked as a principal for the St. Joseph School in West Branch.
Clemens started working more closely with the diocese and started working to get the schools proper accreditations, and found that she loved doing administrative work. She worked as the associate superintendent for one year prior to accepting this new role.
“I really loved this kind of work,” Clemens said. “I really enjoyed helping other principals and paving the way so we can continue Catholic education.”
What she specifically liked about the Diocese of Gaylord, she said, is that it’s a smaller diocese so she can get to know everyone a little bit better.
The diocese district is made up of 14 elementary schools and four high schools, with an average class size of 12 students to one teacher, according to the district website. The district has schools in Alpena, Cadillac, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, East Tawas, Gaylord, Kingsley, Lake Leelanau, Manistee, Petoskey, Prudenville, Rogers City, Traverse City and West Branch.
Clemens said that while she was working as principal, she was already able to form good relationships with the other principals, but now she’s looking forward to getting to know staff and students better and visiting all the different schools.
“One of my strengths, I've been told, is my ability to be able to relate with people, both students, adults, and the like,” Clemens said. "So I feel like if I can get into their buildings — really get to know each and every one of our schools and build relationships, not only with the principals, but with the teachers — I can start to see areas that we need additional help, or just any way that I can really facilitate anything from the diocese level to make their lives a little bit better, easier — really problem solve with them and for them.”
When it comes to helping the diocese, one area Clemens specifically hopes to help improve upon is the teacher shortage. She wants to figure out how to recruit more teachers to the diocese, and then figure out different retention strategies to get them to stick around.
Because she herself has been greatly impacted by Catholic education, Clemens said she wants to continue offering Catholic education opportunities to people interested in taking that path.
“Catholic education has been super impactful and important in my life,” Clemens said. "For us, we could send our kids to a school where our values that we had at home were embraced and broadened in the Catholic school. And I just really feel that it's important that people have the opportunity for a Catholic education if that's what they choose."
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Clemens said she has a love for education and learning, and still loves learning new things, which is why being in schools is a fit for her.
Ahead of the school year, she is looking forward to getting to know the schools and their staff and faculty a bit more.
“Our schools are amazing and our educators are so I really want to get in and get to see and know them a little bit more,” Clemens said.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Penny Clemens takes over as superintendent of the Diocese of Gaylord
