Tim Raymond D’25 — who dedicated his life to a career in education — will tell you he doesn’t fit into the typical mold.
Whereas many teachers and principals are described as being teacher pleasers in school, never receiving lower than a “B,” Dr. Raymond admits he barely graduated high school after breaking his arm during wrestling championship and not being able to complete several courses. He hated school with a passion.
His mother found old report cards that detailed how much school he missed, and Dr. Raymond details going in one door and heading back out because he didn’t want to be there.
One of his elementary school teachers told him he’d never amount to anything. Near the end of his senior year, a high school counselor recommended that he consider military or technical school after graduation, unaware that Dr. Raymond had already been accepted into college.
“The only thing that kept me going was I didn’t want to work in a factory or be unemployed,” he said. But between his love for athletics and his desire to prove people wrong, Dr. Raymond not only graduated with an undergraduate degree, he went on to earn two master’s degrees and a doctorate.
And along the way, he says he fell in love with school.
Which is why Dr. Raymond became a teacher, working his way up to high school principal, most recently as a district administrator and principal at Washington Island, Wis., and Cambria-Friesland School in Wisconsin. Now, in retirement following COVID, he works at CESA 7 in Green Bay, Wis., as a licensing director. CESA 7 is one of the top Cooperative Educational Service Agencies in the state, serving 40 schools in Wisconsin.
When Dr. Raymond came to Saint Mary’s for his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) degree, he said he did it for the wrong reasons, largely — once again — to prove the naysayers from his past wrong. “I had a chip on my shoulder that said ‘I’ll show you,’ he admits. “That was the wrong reason, but in the process, I realized why I had done it.”
Dr. Raymond again admits he didn’t fall into the typical mold of an adult learner. It took him nine years to finish his degree, and COVID sidelined his goals. Dr. Raymond credits program leaders like Dr. Rustin Wolfe, Dr. Paul Kotz, and Dr. Yvette Pye for helping him continue in his educational pursuits.
“I was ready to give up but Dr. Pye wouldn’t let me. Dr. Kotz’s positivity kept me going. There’s a good spirit there. It’s the people who always make the difference,” he said, describing how about two days before his dissertation defense, he was editing at 2 a.m. and was shocked when Dr. Wolfe would respond to him within minutes.
Dr. Raymond appreciated how Dr. Wolfe approached situations like a coach would: not telling him the answers, but instead asking questions and guiding his students to the answers.
“He got in the ditch with me, and that made a difference,” he said. “Overall, I had an outstanding experience and that’s because of the last piece of the dissertation process. That made me say this was worth my time. This was worth me. The dissertation piece was so wonderfully intense.
“I felt humbled. It was gratifying but humbling. It was such a growth experience. If there was a Ph.D. program, I’d come back.”
