William Hawkey is set to lead The Pennington School starting in July 2014
By Emma Ellis
Three years into his teaching career at The Pennington School, Bill Hawkey had what he felt was a discouraging conversation with Don Miller, the school’s Headmaster at the time.
At the end of each year, the head of school would have a conversation with each faculty member to share compliments, advice, and trade feedback. The two men were in Miller’s office, during one such year-end review.
Miller complimented Hawkey on the previous year’s work, and asked him what his long-term goals were.
“Naively, genuinely, from the heart, I said I’d love to be headmaster,” Hawkey said.
Miller took Hawkey’s ambition in stride. His advice at the time was, “be patient.”
“You have a lot of time, you don’t need to rush into that,’” is what he recalls Miller saying now. “Which wasn’t really what I wanted to hear.”
Hawkey was an ambitious 25-year-old and hoping for a more “go get ’em” line of encouragement. But, he said, “the more that I’ve been around doing various jobs over the years, the more I have come to appreciate the wisdom of his remarks.”
Now, after 31 years at the school, Dr. William Hawkey — or “Hawk,” as some students like to call him — will finally have his dream job. The executive committee of the Board of Trustees unanimously recommended Hawkey to become the next head of the Pennington School, with his term to begin July 1, 2014.
The change comes following the resignation of current headmaster Stephanie “Penny” Townsend. After seven years leading in Pennington, Townsend will be leaving to assume the role of head of the Ransom Everglades School, near Miami.
In a statement released by the Pennington School, Townsend said, “I have worked closely with Bill Hawkey for the past seven years, and his knowledge, dedication, and experience have been invaluable to me.”
Peter Tucci, chairman of the Pennington School Board of Trustees, agreed.
“Bill Hawkey was not only the right hand for Penny in the last seven years, but also for the preceding headmaster, Lyle Rigg. As I said to him, I guess I do not need give you a campus tour!” said Tucci.
The Pennington School is an independent school in Pennington for students in grades six through twelve, founded in 1838. Most preparatory schools do not have a succession plan in place for when a headmaster has moved on, but leaders of the Pennington School said they knew Bill Hawkey would be the natural choice for the school’s next leader.
“Although he’s still very young (53), he’s basically spent his entire working career at Pennington,” Tucci said. “The school was very fortunate to have someone like Bill.”
His most recent administrative roles have been as the associate head of school and dean of faculty. He joined the Pennington School staff when he was 22 after having returned from a four-month trip to Europe and North Africa. There was a midyear opening for someone to take over the class of a teacher who was departing on maternity leave.
“I got hired with the idea that I’d stick it out to June. Thirty-one years later…” he trailed off, laughing.
Hawkey grew up in Pennington. When he was of high school age, his stepfather, Dr. Edmund Cervone, was a teacher at The Hun School in Princeton. Cervone’s family received tuition remission because of his role at Hun, so Hawkey enrolled.
Cervone left Hun for Pennington the year Hawkey started there, founding The Center for Learning, a college preparatory program for students with learning disabilities. That was in 1975. Hawkey finished high school at Hun, however.
He went to college at the University of Vermont, graduating with a degree in early childhood and human development. He later went to Temple University, where he earned his master’s in counseling and school psychology and then a doctorate in school psychology. Temple is also where he met his wife, Karen, who was a fellow student in the masters program.
The young Hawkeys moved into a house on campus after they were married. Although Karen is originally from Pittsburgh, she immediately fell in love with Pennington.
“She is as tied to this community as I am,” Hawkey said.
After 15 years on campus, they moved into downtown Pennington with their children. Sons Billy and Steven graduated from Pennington and are now in college. Daughter Ellie is now in her first year at the school.
Even when he becomes headmaster, he said he will continue to teach classes.
“It’s so fulfilling and rewarding that it keeps you energized,” he said.
Also important to Hawkey’s educational career is his role as coach of the girls varsity soccer team.
“In my mind, a coach is a teacher. I walked into teaching and coaching simultaneously,” Hawkey said.
In May 2009, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America named Hawkey National Coach of the Year for the Girls’ Private High School category. Hawkey said associate director Patrick Murphy and team also deserved the award.
“We were blessed with great talent, great chemistry, and an undefeated season which catapulted us into the limelight,” said Hawkey.
While that may be true, Amanda Dafonte, a Pennington resident and current member of the Girls Varsity Soccer team, thinks highly of both his teaching and coaching style.
Dafonte, as a sophomore, took the school’s required public speaking class, which was taught by Hawkey. Her first speech, she said, was lacking.
Instead of telling Dafonte what was wrong, Hawkey would “ask these leading questions to make my speech better. He didn’t just give you the answer. He would make you figure it out,” she said.
This, Dafonte said, helped students fulfill their potential as speechwriters.
The junior also knows Hawkey from her experiences on the varsity soccer team. During their 2013 preseason training, Dafonte remembered a moment where Hawkey stressed the importance of academics over sports. He brought the team to the part of the school’s gym where there are trophies and plaques awarded to athletes at the school.
“He stood in front of the list of the academic all-Americans, and told us, this is where you want to be,” Dafonte said.
Hawkey emphasized the value of success in the classroom before the playing field, and, most importantly, in “being a good person,” said Dafonte.
Having had him as both coach and a teacher, she believes that Bill Hawkey will make a great headmaster.
“He embodies what the school stands for. He treats students like they’re family, and leads by example,” said Dafonte.
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