‘Very thankful’: SJSD educators reflect on statewide honors

By Jazmine Knight

Two St. Joseph educators are in the spotlight for statewide achievements.

Landi Quinlin, who works at Truman Middle School, was awarded the Northwest region middle-level principal of the year by the Missouri Association of Secondary Principals. Jill Huntsman, the director at Hillyard Technical Center was honored as administrator of the year by the Missouri Council of Career and Technical Administrators.

In celebration of her honor, Quinlin’s staff, students and family threw her a surprise assembly to honor her.

“It was lots of fun,” she said. “I’m very thankful.”

Quinlin said she got into education because school was part of her routine for such a long time. As she got older, she realized how much she enjoyed being around kids. She said her passion is helping them succeed.

“We started school at 5 years old, we woke up and went to school. And, I haven’t known anything else since then,” she said. “Values were set in my mind when I was very young about how important education is.”

For Quinlin, Truman Middle School is a family. She sees her job as a service. She aims to fill the needs of her students and staff members every day. She said her staff is very tight-knit, which is extremely helpful even on tough days.

“I’ve got a phenomenal team, and they make my job somewhere I want to be every single day,” she said. “As a profession, we’ve got a very difficult job, and we wouldn’t be in it if we didn’t love kids.”

Quinlin, who began her career in 2000 as a PE teacher in Raytown, said she fell in love with middle school because she loves seeing students’ growth whether it be emotionally, academically or physically.

“Not everyone loves middle school, so I feel like our job is to make sure they know that middle school loves them, including me,” she said.

Huntsman said students need good role models to show them opportunities. While in college, teaching wasn’t her first choice. But shortly after switching her focus to education, she realized how important agriculture education is for students who may not shine in traditional ways.

“They may not be the best athletes, they may not be the best students, but it can give them an avenue to excel and show their true talents,” she said.

Huntsman encourages students to learn from their mistakes and take advantage of opportunities early. Her favorite part about educating is seeing students have their “lightbulb moment” and how they turn that moment into success.

“When they come back and you see that they’ve been on their own businesses and they are leaders within their industry,” said Huntsman. “It’s just really special to know that you maybe had a little bit of a touch in that.”