The Extra Mile Troy schools employee leads by example

Schools are full of people who do more than their job descriptions on a daily basis, and Troy is no exception. Yet, one man stood out for a recent nomination as a “Lifechanger of the Year.”

At Troy Public Schools, Keith Haggerty is in charge of facilities and maintenance, fleet vehicles, student workers, buses and routes, as well as coaching softball in the spring.

“He drives people to want to do and be better,” said Troy Public Schools Superintendent Jacob Francom, who nominated Haggerty for the award. From their personal lives to their work, Haggerty’s influence sets a bar that others want to reach because he inspires them.

“He’s always kind. He’s always polite. His character is above and beyond,” Francom said.

Noting that Haggerty would probably be embarrassed to see in print how his colleagues feel, School Counselor Kelly Palmer reflected on how much he admires Haggerty and his family — both his wife Suzanne and the sons they have raised.

“He’s a really good guy. You’ll not find a harder worker in this district,” Palmer said. He estimated that Haggerty may put in more than 70 hours some weeks.

One Saturday when Palmer — who also drives bus for the district — showed up at the bus barn to begin his pre-trip at 6 a.m., Haggerty was already there, and the bus was cleaned out and fueled.

“On a Saturday,” Palmer said. “Literally, you’ve got to get up pretty early to beat this guy.”

Haggerty never hesitates to take on another task or help out, said Troy Middle-High School Principal Christina Schertel.

“I don’t know if Keith ever sleeps,” she said. “He will make sure everything gets done, and done to the highest quality, even if it means he has to pitch in and do it himself.”

But, there is no impatience to how he does that, said Schools Business Clerk Trinette Todd. If anything, he diffuses any stress and helps to put people at ease.

“He’s a lot of fun to be around,” she said. “He’s serious when he needs to be serious, of course, but he always tries to use humor as a way to move into a situation.”

Francom said that the the work Haggerty does in facilities and maintenance — making the schools more inviting and welcoming — is important.

“His impact — I don’t think people realize, and I don’t think he realizes, but that impact, it’s going to be felt — it’s felt now, and it’s going to be felt for many, many years to come,” Francom said.

Lifechanger

But when it comes to doing more than is asked of him, much of what Haggerty does is completely outside of his job description.

Schertel said that his work with his athletes and his student workers really sets him apart. He doesn’t just track grades to make sure students are in compliance, but actually works with students to solve problems at school and in their lives.

Student workers under Haggerty don’t just get a job out of it, she said. “It’s like they inherit this amazing mentor with the job.”

Palmer recalled the way Haggerty approached teaching a group of student workers to handle repairing a transmission fluid leak on one of the buses.

They had never done anything like that before, but he told them, “You need to apply what you know to what you don’t know,” Palmer said.

It’s a concept that Haggerty said he tries to reinforce to the students throughout their work. He said he tries to show them how to be thinkers, not just doers.

Haggerty said it goes back in part to his own experience when he first started working with experienced tradesmen who taught him in a similar fashion. Whether it’s in the classroom, on the athletic field or in the workplace, people do better if they understand what they are doing from having to think it through.

“And it’s pretty impressive what they can do,” Haggerty said of his student workers. “But like a lot of things, if you give somebody a chance, they usually surprise you and can handle it.”

While he won’t let them get into a situation where something could get seriously damaged or someone could get injured, Haggerty said he gives the students room to make mistakes without having to worry about getting in trouble for them.

When he does that, he finds the students are more ready to jump in and take on a new task, and they learn a lot more as well, he said.

“And they become leaders,” he said. “Really the overall goal is for them to become that self-reliant leader, so they can depend on themselves and show others.”

Palmer said that Haggerty’s mentoring approach applies to his softball players as well. Both Francom and Schertel expressed mixtures of amazement and enjoyment when describing the experience of seeing Haggerty work through things with students.

“He sits down and he talks to them in probably the kindest voice you have ever heard,” Schertel said.

“He’s really good at the mentoring part of his job — which is not part of the job description. It’s just something Keith does because he cares.”

Motivation

“I just like to see people succeed,” Haggerty said of his motivation for the work he puts in.

Standing outside a Troy basketball game — Haggerty is a regular fixture at student activities even in his free time — He named many of those around him in his life as inspiration, from watching his wife, Suzanne, as a teacher to how he saw his parents treat people when he was growing up.

At the school, he also gave credit back to the administration, and their willingness to let him focus on bettering the students, and not just getting the job done. “Without that support from the administration, none of this would be taking place,” he said.

Haggerty also said he enjoys seeing the students respond positively to his approach with them.

And that response even goes into the ownership the students take from their work. Francom said that one of the student workers recently chided another student for throwing an apple at a door, telling them they needed to show more respect for the school.

As for his work ethic, Haggerty alluded to his childhood growing up among dairy farms. Cows have to be milked at the same times every day, no matter what else is happening.

“It has to be done, regardless of how you feel, what you’re going through, you just do it. That’s just that work ethic,” he said.

Palmer said that Haggerty looks at the big picture in everything, not just wanting his workers or athletes to be on time because of how it affects them now, but because of the habits they are building for their futures.

“He wants to do what’s best for the kids, the students, the community,” Schertel said. “He’s an incredible individual.”

Yet, regardless how much he takes on or how early he has been up, Todd said even with coworkers he is always patient and kind.

Asked about that, Haggerty came back to something he said he tells his student workers and his softball players: “‘Are you gonna quit?’ And then you just have to keep going,” he said. “Everybody can stop and do something else, but then, whatever it was is always left undone.”

But, if a person keeps going, works through it, it gets better, he said.

Additionally, he said that he tries to treat people with the same level of respect he’d want, and recalled how he never saw his parents appear mean toward anyone, regardless who they were or other external factors.

“Nobody’s more important than someone else,” he said. “As long as they show you respect, show it back. And if they don’t, show them respect and see what happens.”

‘The extra mile,” is a special feature running in the final issue of your Western News each month.

Our goal is to shine a light on the people who selflessly labor to make our communities better, and who inspire us to want to be better as well.

Please send recommendations, a short explanation of why you think an individual should be featured and information on how to reach you or the individual you nominate to:

bkibbey@thewesternnews.com

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