Last Stanzas: Debbi Krieg

Interviewed by Jennifer Thomas

Debbi Krieg is a collector. “I started my word collections in 2012 when I collected a poem a day,” she shared. “Then in 2013 I collected quotes. And then in 2014 I collected lyrics. I collected something every year for the last decade. It’s the best thing ever.” In January of 2022, Debbi resolved to memorize a poem a week. When deciding what to memorize, she goes back to the same week in 2012, reviews the poems she collected, and picks her favorites to memorize.

Her resolution served as the perfect bookend as we talked about her role at Community and the approach of her retirement in spring 2022. We met in the Discovery Center, where she worked as Community’s school librarian for 23 years. She told me about the four poems she had memorized in March and how each one felt like it could be her mantra for retirement. The title for this collection? “Last Stanzas.” She recited the last stanza of each poem as the sun shimmered through the window and danced across the table.

Debbi thought about reciting her “Last Stanzas” at our end-ofyear faculty meeting but wondered if she’d be able to get through them. When the day arrived, she pivoted and shared an excerpt from Sahara Special, a book that she reads with students each year:

School is a powerful place where things change, and wishes come true… It’s a place where you can grow up if you let yourself.

After finishing the excerpt, Debbi summed that, “This has been a powerful place, I’ve grown up a lot, I’ve found my voice… I have all of you to thank for this. I love this place, and I love you all.” Before sitting down, Debbi also recited a poem aptly titled, “Good Books, Good Times.” The meeting signaled the end of her time as our school librarian but not the end of Debbi’s collections – they’ll continue to inspire us and live on in the Discovery Center and beyond as we read the books that were in her care and as she stops by and shares her latest finds.

Read our complete interview to learn more about Debbi’s background and time at Community. Tell me about your background prior to starting at Community. I was in banking right after college until my youngest child was born. I was home for 15 years and sort of fell into the job at Community School when a friend said they were looking for a part-time librarian.

What makes Community unique in your experience? There are a bunch of good answers to this question – the school’s philosophy, programs, history, campus – but in my mind it all comes back to the people. I think of all the good people doing their part every day to enrich the lives of the children in our care.

Share a favorite memory from your time at Community. There are so many, but here’s a recent one. A few weeks ago, as I was walking down the hall to the Discovery Center before school started, I glanced out the window and saw a student walking to her classroom. Right then a breeze caused a blizzard of dogwood blossoms to snow down on her. She stopped, raised her face to the sky, threw her arms in the air, and delighted at the beauty of the scene, as did I, watching her.

What will you miss most about

Community? I will miss my colleagues, of course, so many dear people! And, I had the great good fortune to get to know scores of parents through the years – those who volunteered in the Discovery Center. We had some good times! But mostly, I think, I’ll miss the children. Dostoevsky said, “The soul is healed by being with children.” I think that’s true. I’ll miss the rhythm of the school year, too, but I will miss the kids most.

What advice would you share with someone starting as a new employee at Community? I’ll just give the same advice a dear friend gave me, from Arthur Ashe: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Oh, and it took me 22 years to believe this one enough to actually do it, but it really does help to get to school 15-30 minutes before you need to be there.

Beyond the Discovery Center

Debbi is not just a collector… she is a collaborator! Debbi frequently worked with Alissa Rowan (Drama Teacher), Taylor Mata (School Counselor), and Jonelle Harris (Director of Diversity and Inclusion) to identify books and other resources that would support students’ social/emotional growth and learning. They also developed the Community Reads video series to provide a way for the entire school to read the same book and connect it with curriculum that Taylor uses in the classroom. Each April, Debbi and Alissa worked together to infuse poetry everywhere during readings at lunch and by posting poems on bulletin boards and walls throughout the school – even in the bathrooms! This dynamic duo collaborated as members of the Family Groups Committee, as well.

Additionally, Debbi partnered with Veronique Gardet (Lower Division French Teacher) on “Story Time with Madame and Mrs. K” several times each year. They took turns reading books in English and French in each Lower Division grade. They often recruited students as helpers to act out stories using puppets as they read. This provided an opportunity for students to interact with other grades and to shine in a leadership role. “Those collaborations were a favorite part of my time at Community!” Debbi recalled.