Jan Harrison

Jan Harrison and her son, Kent (’01, LD ’15)

Road to Retirement

Few people have more institutional knowledge than Jan Harrison. In her 21 years at Darlington, she has served as the executive assistant and chief support person to four of the school’s leaders — most recently, Head of School Brent Bell — which includes working closely with their administrative teams and as a liaison to the Board of Trustees.

But Harrison’s favorite thing about working at Darlington has been her interaction with the students.

“Watching the students change and grow over their years here is very rewarding,” she said.

A longtime student advisor, in recent years Harrison and Bell have served as co-advisers to a group of freshman boys each year. And even though they switch to a new adviser in tenth grade, the students never forget Mrs. Harrison — or her baking.

“When I was a freshman, as a student who just came to study in the United States, there were many unfamiliarities and differences,” said William Feng (’22), one of Harrison’s former advisees. “Mrs. Harrison always gives me support to try new things and step out of my comfort zone to be a boundary breaker. She has provided me with a lot of help academically, socially and culturally to overcome various barriers. With her help, I took the initiative to integrate and engage myself into the campus and community, participating in activities and finding things that I have a talent for and enjoy doing.”

Feng (’22) fondly recalls regular Google Meet sessions with Harrison while learning virtually from China last year due to COVID-19.

“Mrs. Harrison shared with me many interesting things that happened at school, including campus, community, and the overall situation of COVID-19,” he said. “These all made me very connected and continue to feel the family bond among us at Darlington.”

Harrison began her career at Darlington after spending several years as executive assistant to the vice president and general manager at HON, the largest employer in Polk County at that time. She had enrolled her son, Kent (’01), at Darlington and loved the community atmosphere. She was hired by then-Darlington President David Hicks in the summer of 2000.

“I have so many wonderful memories of Kent playing sports, of decorating locker rooms with the other parents before games, of hosting boarding students overnight in our home, and so much more,” she said. “I believe the highlight was when Kent, as president of the Student Senate, gave the speech at his graduation.”

The Harrisons were all in at Darlington and over the years, Tiger Pride truly became a family affair. Not only would Kent come to work as an admission officer, math teacher, coach, and assistant athletic director; her daughter-in-law, Rachel, would teach first grade; her daughter, Lindsay Woods, would manage the DAR Shop (and still does); and her son-in-law, Chad Woods, would serve as chairman of the math department, coach, master scheduler, and current director of Upper School.

“Additionally, two of my grandchildren are Dar Babies,” said Harrison. “Ava Ann Woods will be in eighth grade this fall and Barrett Woods will be in fifth. So Darlington being ‘like a big family’ is a bit of an understatement for me!”

She also considers her colleagues part of her family.

“Friendships gained at Darlington have seen me through the difficult and the wonderful times over the last 21 years,” she said. “I have learned so much from my interactions with each of them, forged lasting friendships, and I can honestly say I have enjoyed it all.”

As she begins retirement and enjoys spending more time with her children and grandchildren, Harrison is still contemplating what the future holds.

“I honestly haven’t decided what I want to do yet,” she said. “Possibly slow down a bit, but knowing me, probably not.”

But one thing is for sure — Darlington will forever be part of the fabric of the Harrison family.

Jan Harrison competes with students in the RUMPUS Top Chef event.