'It made me not think about me,' principal says of job that helped her through cancer
Kristen Forbes / The Beaverton Valley Times
GRATEFUL – Hiteon Elementary Principal Linda Schattauer, who is retiring after 19 years with the Beaverton School District, says the kids and staff at Hiteon were a lifeline for her as she battled colon cancer.
As Hiteon Elementary Principal Linda Schattauer retires from 20 years in education, 19 years with the Beaverton School District, and five at Hiteon, it’s clear the occasion is bittersweet. She’s looking forward to spending more time with her husband, also retired. She’ll be able to visit more with her parents, who live in town. There will be more time to catch up on her reading, quilting and traveling.
But for Schattauer, saying goodbye to the kids and community at Hiteon is no simple task. It was this community, and these kids, who got Schattauer through some of her toughest days.
When she was diagnosed with colon cancer in August 2007, Schattauer could have taken a medical leave of absence. Instead, she had surgery, took a brief period of time off, and came back to school and worked, even through six months of chemotherapy treatments.
“I never even considered a leave,” Schattauer says. “I just knew that I had to have surgery, which I did, and that I was going to take five or six weeks off. I certainly could have taken more time off, but coming back to work was what kept me going — knowing that there’s another purpose for my life. I didn’t want cancer to become me. It was just something I had that I was going to deal with, but it wasn’t something I was going to let ruin my life.”
Not getting a colonoscopy, Schattauer says, was the one way she neglected to take care of herself.
“I waited until I was 56 to have one and unfortunately, it caught up with me. I learned a good lesson from that,” Schattauer says.
Always outspoken about her cancer and its treatment, Schattauer now finds herself in a spokesperson role. She often tells her colleagues and the parents from school about the importance of a colonoscopy.
“I say, ‘I didn’t want to do it. I’d heard all these nightmares about how awful it was.’ Yet, it truly wasn’t that awful. And if I could help save somebody else by just talking about it, I could do that,” she says.
At her retirement party, several well-wishers approached Schattauer and let her know that they’d gone out and had their colonoscopies because of her.
“I think it’s really important that we advocate from what we know is right. It’s no different than advocating for education,” says Schattauer, who has had a clean bill of health since March 2008.
A resident of Aloha, Schattauer is proud to have raised a daughter and son, who were brought up in the Beaverton school system.
“They are very successful adults because of this wonderful place,” she says.
This pride carries over to her students and staff at Hiteon. She credits her job as principal for helping her keep her focus throughout her illness.
“It’s what made me not think about me,” Schattauer says. “It would be really easy to fall into that trap of ‘Oh poor me, I’m sick.’ Yet, this was my job and I could come to my job and they (the students) saw me as just the same person I was before. I still got the same hugs and kisses, and they just wrapped me with their love. I could come here and forget that I had something going on in my life, and just keep going. Then I’d go home and collapse.”
Clearly, she received her inspiration from the students she oversees.
“Some of our kids come from difficult situations,” Schattauer says. “No matter what, they come to school every day, they try their best, they almost always have a smile on their faces — and if they don’t, we’re there to pick up the little pieces and help put that smile back on, so that when they get home at the end of the day, they can tell their parents what great things happened today.”
Schattauer said she too would go home each day and receive tremendous support from her husband. And whenever she was at school, she knew she could count on her colleagues to help with whatever needed to be done.
“Teachers do an amazing job of stepping in and picking up where there’s slack. I think a lot of time our families don’t even realize how much they do. They work so hard, and they care so much about every child in their classrooms. It’s just like a big, extended family,” says Schattauer.
Schattauer is proud that in her retirement, she’s leaving behind a school in great standing, which she credits to the hard work of her colleagues, students, parents and volunteers.
“It’s very gratifying to know that I’m leaving school with a new wing completed and everything in place, our school being excellent, great test scores and tremendous community. We really care about our kids here. Our volunteers have a little over 7,000 volunteer hours at our school.”
Though she has some residual numbness in her hands and feet, Schattauer says she is feeling back to normal and is excited for a restful and relaxing retirement. Still, she doesn’t think her educational journey is over just yet.
“I know that at some point my future will come back and cross with education, whether that be with volunteering or coming back to help with special projects or filling in for someone, like one of my retired principals did for me while I was out sick last year. I would love to be able to do that for somebody else,” Schattauer says.