Honoring a Special Mom: Sherrie Goodman

On May 9, the Newman Parents Association got together for their final meeting of the year. For many of the seniors’ moms it was a bittersweet occasion, a time for heartfelt farewells, as their seniors left school, and they retired from the NPA. But the occasion was also one of celebration, and the group took the time to honor one very special mother, Mrs. Sherrie Goodman. After an incredible 30 years as a parent at Newman, Sherrie Goodman’s youngest child is graduating. Sherrie has been an integral part of Newman Parents Association. An honorary plaque for Mrs. Goodman now has a permanent place on the NPA office wall. Lisa Brooking expressed what many of the Parents Association members felt in her stirring retrospective of Mrs. Goodman’s time at Newman, which we will share with you here:

In 1980, Sherrie Goodman and her oldest child, Tiffany, walked hand in hand into Newman kindergarten. Who would have thought that 30 years later, one of them is about to graduate?

 

1980 … That was a lonngg time ago, but that’s when Sherrie Goodman first jumped in and started volunteering as a Newman parent. Allow me to put it in perspective: Jimmy Carter was president. Home computers, cell phones, and faxes hadn’t been invented. Walter Cronkite was retiring, shoulder pads were big, and hair was even bigger. The minimum wage was $3.35/hr. and “Funky town” by Lipps Inc was #1 on the music charts.

 

In 1983, Allison joined Tiffany as a Greenie. At that time, Ronald Reagan was president, Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, and Michael Jackson released “Thriller.” And there was Sherrie, leading and working on committee after committee, never tiring of doing things for Newman and for her children.

 

Let’s fast forward to the 90’s…. there was the fall of the Berlin Wall, OJ’s acquittal, the launch of the World Wide Web, and “round two” for the Goodman’s, better known as the births of Dustin and Brittany. With Tiffany and Allison graduating, here was a whole new opportunity for Sherrie to give once again to the school and the children she loved. As parents, most of us get exhausted thinking about raising one round of little angels, but Sherrie and Alan not only raised two, they made it look easy.

 

Time marched on, and we entered a new century and a new millennium. The Euro was created, we began the war on terrorism, there was Katrina, the nation’s largest “unnatural” disaster…and Sherrie continued to introduce and welcome waves and waves of new parents to Newman. After volunteering for so many years, Sherrie could easily have given it up and rested on her laurels, but she never stopped finding meaningful ways to help make Newman the best school it could be. As Ann Thompson noted, ‘One of the wonderful things about Sherrie is that although she has held so many top positions, she never has a problem rolling up her sleeves and doing the mundane jobs, too.”

 

 

As the first decade of the millennium comes to a close, both Dustin and Brittany will have graduated. And for Sherrie, a magical 30-year Newman career will change course, but her imprint here will remain.

 

Sherrie Goodman is the epitome of a good friend, She is open, warm, inviting, and always there to help and support. Sherrie has been a good friend to Newman School, and for those of us who have worked with her, for her and along side her, it has been an honor and a privilege.

 

Sherrie, you’ve trained and mentored so many, many of us, encouraging us to get involved, to be a bigger part of Newman and our children’s lives. You leave a lasting legacy. You’ve led by example, and have made the school and all of us better by your being here. For that we are so tremendously grateful. We will miss you, our friend.