Photo by Amanda DePerro
After 18 years spent getting the younger generation ready for college – how to dress for an interview, what to put on a resume, how to land an internship – Karen Harriman, a longtime teacher in the Dublin City School District, is finally able to live in the moment.
Harriman was born in Lima, Ohio on Oct. 13, 1952. At a time when women were shoehorned into two career paths, nursing or teaching, Harriman decided to get a degree to teach home economics from Bowling Green State University. She taught for a few years before moving to Phoenix, Ariz. with a man she met at BGSU and who she would later marry, Doug.
“I figured, (Dublin) is a nice, small town, it’s close to Columbus with a lot of activities. Reflecting back on that, it’s the best decision we ever made.” - Harriman
The couple had two children, Tyler and Megan, and Harriman took time off to be a full-time mom. When the kids got to be school-aged, Harriman was offered a job teaching morning kindergarten at their school.
Summers and holidays during the family’s 18 years in Arizona were spent flying back and forth between Phoenix and Dublin, where Harriman’s sisters lived. Eventually, the couple decided it was time for a change of scenery.
“Family has always been very, very important to me. I told my husband, ‘I think the kids need to know their relatives,’” says Harriman. “I figured, (Dublin) is a nice, small town, it’s close to Columbus with a lot of activities. Reflecting back on that, it’s the best decision we ever made.”
Like anyone about to make a major life decision, Harriman and Doug got cold feet when they realized their Phoenix home was sold, and they’d quit their jobs.
“All of a sudden you go, ‘Wait a minute,’” she says. “I got a job with Columbus Public Schools, (Doug) got a job and our house closed all in the same day. So I said, ‘This was meant to be.’”
Soon after they relocated in 1994, Harriman and her daughter walked into an open house on a whim and found their new home. Buying the house in Historic Dublin couldn’t have been a better move for Harriman, who is now thrilled to see all of the new growth only a few steps away.
Retirement Day with grandchildren
“That was a great decision,” she says. “The hotbed of activity is here. You have Historic Dublin, the quaint little shops, then across the river with Bridge Park.”
After her time in Columbus schools, Harriman worked at Gahanna Lincoln High School in Gahanna. But her true calling would come when she was offered a job in Dublin City Schools as a teacher in the Young Professionals’ Academy (YPA), a program dedicated to helping Dublin’s high school students find, explore and prepare for their careers. The program takes students from all three high schools, and for the last 18 years, Harriman has been an integral part of it.
“It’s for the students to go in and start building their networks, … test drive a career before they go off to college,” she says. “They can find out, ‘What is the work environment like? Am I working by myself? Am I working with people? Do I like this? Is it rewarding? Does it match up with my values and interests?’”
Harriman says the program has helped many students discover their passions. Just as important, though, it’s helped students discover what they don’t want to do. Harriman recalls a student from years ago who said she’d always wanted to be a teacher. When she was dropped into the classroom, however, reality set in.
“She came back two weeks later and goes, ‘Every time I turn around, there are kids around all the time. It’s driving me nuts,’” says Harriman, laughing.
YPA’s success has led to the creation of other career-focused programs in Dublin City Schools. The Dublin Teachers Academy, Engineering Academy, Biomedical Academy, Business Academy and IT Academy all offer students hyper-focused experience, preparing them for what’s to come after high school graduation.
“I have great kids, I have great grandchildren. I’m so blessed with that,” she says. “I’m excited to be retired and to be able to spend those special moments with my kids, my grandkids, my siblings, my mom and my husband.”
After 18 years with YPA and Dublin schools, Harriman decided it was time to retire and focus on her hobbies, children and grandchildren. On Oct. 13, Harriman celebrated two landmarks: her final day at work and her 65th birthday. Then, in November, she jetted off to Hawaii with her husband and their longtime friends. Though she admits she’s nervous of how she’ll feel about retirement after life calms down following the holiday season, Harriman says she’s thrilled to spend more time with her children and grandchildren.
“I have great kids, I have great grandchildren. I’m so blessed with that,” she says. “I’m excited to be retired and to be able to spend those special moments with my kids, my grandkids, my siblings, my mom and my husband.”
And while Harriman will miss – and be missed in – the classroom, she says she’s in Dublin “for the long haul.” That means her former students will be close by, or – she says, as she scrolls through her phone’s contact list, revealing countless names tagged with “YPA 2017,” “YPA 2016” and so on – they’re just a text or call away.
“Why move any place else? What does any place else have to offer that Dublin doesn’t?” she says. “With YPA, I feel like I don’t just have my two kids and my five grandchildren; I have thousands of kids. … Dublin is family.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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