Students Hail Ailing Principal

Last October, grades, sports and even dating ceased to matter quite as much to students at North High School in Torrance.

Other odd things happened too. Teachers who usually became apoplectic at the sight of soda cans began to allow Mountain Dew into their classrooms. Students who don’t like Mountain Dew began to drink it anyway.

With every bright green can tossed into boxes--students from North High and its feeder middle schools collected more than 14,000 in all--students said they thought of their beloved former principal, Tim Scully, who had been diagnosed as having multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer.

On Tuesday, all that soda drinking paid off as students were finally able to give something back to Scully. At a noontime rally, students hailed Scully with an outpouring of song, cheers and emotional tributes. Many had not seen their former principal, whose hair is just beginning to return after chemotherapy, in months.

“Scu-lly! Scu-lly! Scu-lly!” they chanted.

Representatives from PepsiCo presented student body President Rachel Lele’a with a check for $10,000. Students at the school collected more cans than any of the 84 other Southern California schools participating in the contest.

Rachel immediately donated the money to the International Myeloma Foundation in Scully’s name, along with $5,000 from Toyota Motor Sales and $600 more from a local Rotary Club. The money will be used for research into a cure for the disease, said Susie Novis, foundation president.

Scully and his wife, Margaret Scully, arrived in a limousine to thank the students.

“I want to tell you how thrilled I am to be back here, even if it is just for one day,” said Scully, adding that the worst part of his illness is not seeing his students. “You have become heroes to my wife and me.”

In turn, students and teachers said that Scully has long been a hero to them.

Last spring, many teachers broke down in tears as they told their students that their principal was leaving school.

Students were devastated. Rachel, who had recently lost her grandmother to cancer, decided she wanted to do something--at least symbolically--for Scully.

She sprang into action, calling local radio stations, putting up signs and urging everyone to drink up.

Teachers signed on, deciding they could cope with sticky spills and the consequences of over-caffeinated students for such a good cause, said English teacher Matt Mishler, who had once been a student in Scully’s English class.

And students rallied to the cause. “This just united us as a school,” said Rachel. “Nothing is more important than Mr. Scully.”

In a school where 30% of the students are Latino, 30% are white, 30% are Asian and 8% are African American, Scully was the first principal who was able to bring students together across racial lines and to bring the community into the school, said English teacher Tabatha Swiger.

In his six years as principal, the former football coach and English teacher instituted parents nights and college nights. He put together a human relations commission, organized a diversity conference and asked community leaders to meet with parents and students to plan for the school’s future. Along the way, he won many awards for his innovations.

But students say they really love him because, in a school of 2,000, he knew just about every young person’s name.

Rachel said she first met Scully three years ago, when he filled in for her sophomore English teacher. The class was reading “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and Rachel said she was moved by Scully’s discussion of characters depicted in the book about World War I.

Later that period, Scully walked with Rachel to the library to pick up a VCR. She found him so easy to talk to, she said she wished he taught all her classes.

“He’s so warm. He’s so wonderful, you just don’t have words for it,” she said.

Tuesday was the last time many students and staff will see Scully for a while. He will began an intensive course of chemotherapy, and will have to remain in isolation for some time. He delayed the treatment for a few weeks so he could attend Tuesday’s rally.

Margaret Scully said the family is worried but hopeful that the treatment will work.

“I don’t know how we’re going to thank the kids for what they did,” she said. “Hopefully, just by giving him back to the school at the end of this, that will be enough.”