By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD
Technically, Dr. Sandra McCalla and I met for “Coffee with Harriet” because it was Tuesday and she had her weekly meeting at the downtown Rotary Club during lunch. We could get together after lunch, so she suggested Rhino’s Uptown location. Call it whatever you want — I’d meet her anytime she was available.
McCalla is synonymous with Captain Shreve High School, where she began teaching math in 1967, served as assistant principal for two years and then as principal twice – from 1978-88 and again from 1994-2015.
In 2015, McCalla knew it was time to retire because of the ‘Three Fives’ — she was 75, had worked in the public school system for 55 years, and was tired of getting up at 5 a.m.
“I’m not a morning person,” she says with a smile.
Just as quickly as the smile appears on her face, however, it is gone and her eyes begin to tear up. Asking McCalla about retirement takes her back to those days in the spring of 2015.
There are many happy memories from all her years at Captain Shreve, but that particular time is not one of those.
On April 25 of that year, Shreve head football coach Richard Lary suffered a fatal heart attack while attending the final regular-season baseball game at Gator Field and died a short time later at Willis-Knighton Pierremont. McCalla wasn’t far from Lary when he collapsed and – when told where they would be taking him – beat the ambulance to the hospital.
“That’s a hard one,” she says as she recalls the memory.
While McCalla knew she would soon be retiring, she hadn’t made the formal announcement just yet — and Lary’s death put off the announcement for a little while. “I told the superintendent early that summer,” she says.
This time, McCalla would be leaving for good. When she left Captain Shreve in 1988 to take a leadership position at Northwestern State (her alma mater), it was a different situation — McCalla was working until midnight and when she asked for some things that other schools were getting, she was told, “Your parents can provide that.”
McCalla thought it was time for a change. She could stay away for only six years, however. In 1994, she started receiving phone calls telling her that Tommy Powell (who had taken over as principal when she left) was retiring and asking her to come back. When one of those calls came from the Caddo superintendent, she returned to Captain Shreve.
“I was thrilled to come back,” she says. “I’ve been blessed to have been given so many positions throughout my life. In fact, the only job I ever had to apply for was when I was 19 (years old) and trying to get a teaching position.”
She got that job – as a math teacher at Oak Terrace Junior High, where Stanley Powell was principal. When Powell left Oak Terrace in 1967 to become the first principal at Captain Shreve and wanted McCalla to join him, she “respectfully declined.”
“I was happy teaching math there,” she says.
Until she got a letter from the superintendent saying, “you’ve been appointed to Captain Shreve.”
McCalla taught math for 10 years and then served as assistant principal for two years. When Stanley Powell went to the Caddo Parish School Board Central Office in 1979, McCalla started her first stint as Captain Shreve principal.
When asked about some of the highlights of her time(s) as principal, McCalla is quick to recall when Captain Shreve was given the National Blue Ribbon School award in 1983 – bestowed by the U.S. Department of Education recognizing public and private schools for their overall academic excellence.
“It was a thrill,” she says as she describes being given the award at the White House by President Ronald Reagan. “There were only two schools from Louisiana that year. And we were one of them.”
The award-winning schools were presented with a flag and a plaque, which are on display at the school. (McCalla ordered a plaque and displays it proudly at her home.)
McCalla has never really left Captain Shreve. You can still find her at a number of school events, and she is still active in the Alumni Association and the annual Gator Run – the school’s only major fundraiser that she initiated 21 years ago.
“Back in 2001, we went to talk to Matt Brown at Sportspectrum,” says McCalla, “and I told him I didn’t see any high schools doing a walk/run.”
The partnership was a success as the Gator Run has been held every year (except the Covid year).
“Matt said, ‘But you’re not going to make any money the first three years,’” recalls McCalla. “But we’ve never lost a dime. We’ve made money every year and that money goes back into the school.”
I was recently reminded just how much respect McCalla holds in the education field.
When I was approached two years ago about teaching high school English at a private school, I told the superintendent that I was tempted to take the job because that was something I had always wanted to do. In fact, I told him, Dr. McCalla had wanted me to come to Captain Shreve and teach years ago.
But there was a problem — I had been a teacher for almost 20 years, but that was in elementary school. I wasn’t certified to teach high school.
“Sandra McCalla wanted you at Captain Shreve?” he said. “That’s all the certification I need.”
I got the job.
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com
