40 years of giving back

Surrounded by co-workers, friends, loved ones. His last day on the job with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. All of them are there to wish Mike Murphy well in his retirement.

Asked to remember the highlights from the past 40 years, the educator recalls the 1973 football champion and, more importantly, how he helped a wrongly accused kid get out of trouble. He stuck his neck out for the kid because he was a product of a broken home and he understood the importance of teachers in his own life — two of the most important role models in his life were educators.

“My baseball coach, Andy Smith, and my chemistry teacher, Dudley Smith, were very good people who cared and who inspired me. They were instrumental in teaching me what education was about,” Murphy said Wednesday at his retirement party. Murphy’s long career included stints as teacher, coach, principal, district administrator and finally the director of the district’s adult education department.

There have been many other highlights, including his role in pushing the school board to start Early College High School, which gives students a chance to get a head start earning college credits while in high school. That, he said, marked one of the happiest moments in his career.

“This program is aimed to students who were the first generation of college-goers, underrepresented college students. It was one of those things that if we didn’t keep nagging, it wouldn’t have happened. That was a milestone,” Murphy said.

The adjectives “kind” and “compassionate” often came up as his co-workers reminisced about Murphy’s career.

“I’ve watched him grow in different jobs, and in each one of them with the same caring attitude for each student whose life he’s touched,” school board member Judy Franco said.

“With so many issues with children and their families, his heart was always there, looking for what’s good for the children. He’s helped hundreds of families,” said former Supt. Rob Barbot, who promoted Murphy to director of Adult Education, the second-happiest of Murphy’s memories.

Murphy is also proud of helping start the district alcohol and drug-education program, which transfers students who develop addiction issues to an alternative high school for 90 days as they’re education about the dangers of abusing drugs and alcohol.

“Out of the students transferred, 97% stay out of trouble,” he said.

Bonnie Swann, the district’s director of elementary education, pointed out that Murphy helped start “Victory with Honor,” a character-education program adopted districtwide.

“He was the person that handled all the disciplines for the middle and high school for the district. He is a ‘go-to’ person, a man for all seasons,” Swann said.

“He is an advocate for students and their families. That was his priority,” School Board President Dana Black said.