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Photo courtesy of Pat Boggs.
Pat Boggs, the longtime assistant to the superintendent at Vestavia Hills City Schools, retired after this past year.
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Photo courtesy of Melissa Caffey.
Melissa Caffey holds her daughter, Mary Kaylor, then age 6 in 1996.
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Photo courtesy of Vicki Cato.
Vicki Cato stands with her Mathcounts team at aprevious competition.
As the 2019-20 school year ended in a certainly unusual way due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also meant the end to several careers within the staff and faculty of Vestavia Hills City Schools.
Some of those who retired had been with the school system for decades, seeing it grow into the renowned institution it is today. Those retiring included Pizitz Middle School teacher Vicki Cato, Vestavia Hills High School teacher Melissa Caffey and Pat Boggs, a longtime assistant to the superintendent.
PAT BOGGS
Boggs wanted to work for the Vestavia Hills Board of Education for a long time, and 16 years ago, she got that chance when she became the secretary to the director of special education at the central office. For the past 13 years, Boggs has been the assistant to the superintendent, or superintendents, to be more precise. She has worked for four superintendents, including longtime Superintendent Jamie Blair, Sheila Phillips, interim superintendent Charles Mason and current Superintendent Todd Freeman.
“All the superintendents were wonderful,” Boggs said. “I enjoyed working for all of them.”
Boggs began her career with the city school system as a paraeducator at Vestavia Hills Elementary East. She discovered she really enjoyed working in special education and did that for four years before moving to the central office, where she finally realized her goal.
“It’s the best school system around, and I’m really proud of it,” Boggs said.
The school system thrives because of the quality of people who work in it, she said, adding that they are devoted and excellent leaders.
Over her 17 years in the central office and 13 years working for various superintendents, Boggs said it has been neat to see behind the scenes and see different leaders do their work.
“The things that always stand out to me are what comes out of this office,” Boggs said.
But over the years, the Board of Education has also recognized her for her work.
David Powell, who just ended his term as board president, heaped praise on her at the meeting where her retirement was announced.
“Pat Boggs is awesome,” Powell said. “Pat keeps the trains running on time.”
Freeman expressed similar sentiments. “Pat Boggs is the model of integrity and character,” Freeman said. “She has served VHCS with a heart of compassion and care for students and colleagues while being exemplary in her work. Pat is highly respected by her peers, Board members, administrators, and teachers. She consistently holds fast to her faith and values and makes others around her better people.”
MELISSA CAFFEY
Just 11 years after the city of Vestavia Hills formed its own school system, Caffey joined the staff at Vestavia Hills High School as an English teacher, her first job in education after she had just obtained her master’s degree in the field.
While she had previously worked in advertising, she found she didn’t care for it, and she knew she enjoyed working with kids.
So, when she landed the job at the high school, she never left. For 39 years, she taught students, mainly freshmen, as well as coaching cheerleading.
“I kept liking it and loving it,” Caffey said.
Retiring was a hard decision, she said. “It’s still weird.”
Caffey said working with ninth-grade students was fun for her. “I like their energy.”
Having children of her own also helped her as an educator, she said.
“I think it [teaching] makes you a better mother,” Caffey said. “And I think being a mother makes you a way better teacher.”
When she took up coaching cheerleading, there was only one coach. That changed over time, and Caffey was able to lead the program, but she said she still doesn’t know how she did it.
Caffey has seen the high school building change tremendously over nearly 40 years. Wings have been added, rooms have been added and the faculty has expanded. For the most part, those with whom she worked at the beginning of her career have long since left.
When she first joined the staff, “you knew all the teachers,” she said. Now, with a much larger student and teacher population, it’s common for Caffey to walk the halls and not see anyone she knows personally.
Technology has also changed, and teaching has gotten “much harder,” with more laws, more pressure from the media and more in general for teachers to do outside of just teaching, she said.
What hasn’t changed is the benefit of teaching and the needs of students, she said. “I think kids are always the same, just different things thrown at them.”
Another constant is the community spirit inside the school and support for the school in the community, she said.
“I think what they have found and what I hope they continue to have is that sense of community,” Caffey said. “That sense of community means a lot.”
While Caffey won’t teach full-time anymore and is considered retired, she and fellow cheer coach and teacher Kim Whitten will teach part-time this fall. When she isn’t at the school, Caffey said she plans to spend time with her soon-to-be new grandbaby, as well as the rest of her family.
VICKI CATO
Teaching math runs in the family for Cato, who recently retired after 32 years in teaching, 22 of them at Pizitz.
Growing up with a mother who taught math, she learned from an early age that she enjoyed the subject. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” she said.
Cato was hired by then-Pizitz Principal David Miles, and she learned quickly what made the school so great.
“It was this great family environment,” Cato said. “I enjoyed the family atmosphere.”
The math department at Pizitz was “innovative,” Cato said, and she was able to take professional development trips across the country to become a better teacher.
Over the years, Cato said she has seen math curriculum change. When she first started teaching, there was an emphasis on word problems and investigative-type learning, but then it was changed to what some call a “traditional” approach, only to see it come back to more abstract, word-based lessons.
“It’s very fluid,” Cato said.
For 10 years, Cato taught the math team at the school. “We just had great trips,” she said.
From fun math camps to trips to Disney World, students had no shortage of experiences with Cato while on the math team.
Cato recalled one student who was more excited to receive a graphing calculator for going to nationals than for the trip the team took to Disney World. Those experiences are memories she’ll keep forever, she said.
Cato already has another job lined up. She now works with Boston-based i-Ready, where she will help teach teachers how to use the online assessment and instructional tool. Cato said she hopes to share her experience and knowledge with other teachers.
