Joanne Colligan

Joanne Colligan, a teacher from Amerman Elementary School, conducted an in-service training on reading for our volunteer tutors.They all walked away with a great deal of knowledge on reading techniques.

Leaving home: Colligan retires
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Colligan's not the archtype of a leader of Northville's largest school.Then again, wielding tyrannical rule has never been his style.

So when Colligan announced in April he would retire after 32 years with Northville Public Schools, the district gave a collective sigh before trying to imagine how to say goodbye.And how to replace him.

Tomorrow, Colligan will place the final box top on the contents of his desk drawer, walk down the expansive hallway and exit through the doors one last time as principal.

Going out on top

There are two ways to make an exit: on top, or after the fall.

"I always thought about retirement coming at a time when you still felt good about yourself and good about your position," Colligan said, who's seen his share of people come and go, noticing what frustrated them.He didn't want to reach that point.

Colligan, 57, said he is going out on top.

"I wanted to walk out feeling pretty good about things," he said.
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But it was a 7 a.m.-3p.m. job, and Colligan wanted more.He wanted after-school football practices and the rush of cheering students through tight games.

Colligan accepted a special education teaching position with Northville Public Schools in 1974.

"I started really enjoying the after-teaching part of the position of education right away," he said."That was a lot of fun and that was the start of my career."he said.

By 1983, when Northville Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services David Bolitho was principal of the high school, Colligan was already head football coach.

Later, Colligan became part-time, then full-time, athletic director before taking on the role as assistant principal and ultimately principal.
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Colligan became Northville High School head principal in 2001.

"Each position had its own set of rewards," he said."So I feel pretty lucky.I wasn't just an administrator for 32 years, I wasn't a teacher for 32 years.

"I was able to do three different things, and I think that really was healthy in my career."

Colligan remembers fondly his stint as athletic director.

"I was able to kind of work a hobby and work with all the athletes and break away from just the football element I was coaching at the time," he said.

But in the early to mid 1990s his own children began competing athletically at Novi High School.Colligan knew he had difficult decision to make.He couldn't be a bleacher parent while serving as Northville's athletic director.

Family won.Colligan applied for a job opening as an assistant principal at the high school.

"I went into the assistant principal job around, I believe, 1995 and I was able to watch my kids compete at Novi and still fulfill the requirements of the assistant principalship here," he said.

All in the family

Joanne Colligan said it is no surprise her husband of 34 years changed career paths to relish his family.

"He is a devoted family man, always managing to find a balance between his family and career," she said.
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Joanne joins Dennis in retirement this year, leaving Amerman Elementary School in January after working 32 years as a special education teacher.

"We are both very dedicated to Northville Public Schools," she said.
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A familiar morning drive, including a stop for coffee, will instantly vanish for Colligan.

"I do have routines, and I am somewhat predictable and maybe some cohorts would say I'm very predictable," Colligan said.

But finding a new routine will be something he will work at.

"Maybe get into a nice exercise routine that is hard to do when you are in the position I am in," he said.
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Colligan said he will miss the human contact.

"I'm going to miss the people.I'm going to miss the everyday contact with a pretty special group of people," Colligan said.

"The interaction with the faculty members, the interaction with the students, those are the things that are the most difficult to walk away from."

Colligan said he's experienced extreme satisfaction throughout his career with the district.

"I think it was a great opportunity for me every step of the way, being able to spend 32 years in a school district like Northville," he said.