Peggy Wakeland is famous in the Upper School. She works as the Upper School division head. She oversees the students of the Upper School leading them onto a better path. But that isn’t the point of this article because although Wakeland has a reputation of inciting fear and power behind her, who is behind that glass door? How much does the student body really know about Wakeland?
Wakeland began her teaching career in public schools, working in over five schools, but she spent most of her time at Castleberry High School, for nine years. Also, 15 out of the 18 years in public school she coached track, tennis, golf, girls volleyball, and girls basketball. Outside of school, Wakeland tutored many students from all over the metroplex in math.
That is why she received the offer to work at Fort Worth Country Day to begin with. She tutored many students that went to the school and since they needed a new math teacher, she was the one requested. But it was not easy to convince Wakeland to take up the opportunity.
“I’m a product of public school,” Wakeland said.
Wakeland was two years away from becoming vetted – that is being able to retire as a teacher and get full benefits. So after many calls, Wakeland came to Fort Worth Country Day, simply for an interview. After three hours of touring and talking to the division heads, the contract was presented. But the salary wasn’t as much as she was making in public school at the time, considering that she was coaching on top of teaching. So Country Day matched her salary, simply for teaching. Wakeland accepted the offer.
“I was working as a single mom, putting my son through college, and so I didn’t have a very lucrative income,” Wakeland said.
Once at Country Day, it became hard for Wakeland to find herself in the new environment. The different rules and the different way that students carried themselves made Wakeland apprehensive, since the environment was so new.
“I thought the kids here needed nothing,” Wakeland said.
But one of her fondest parts about Fort Worth Country Day was how much the parents cared about their children. At her previous school, Wakeland held parents’ night yet no one ever showed up, which left her alone in the class grading papers until the end of the night. But on the first parents night that Wakeland held at Fort Worth Country Day, only standing room remained in the classroom. Most importantly, parents came in and it was the first time Wakeland realized how much these parents cared about their kids.
“I was in Mr. Hoppe’s room […] I guess probably all of my students’ parents came that night […] I had standing room only in my classroom,” Wakeland said.
As time went on, Wakeland realized that her job at Fort Worth Country Day wasn’t simply teaching in the classroom, but teaching students all about the world outside of the classroom and how they can interact with it.
“I recommitted my heart to this school so that I could help guide students,” Wakeland said.
In 1998 Wakeland got into a car wreck that had her out for the entire third quarter. As she was getting back into the swing of things, she started working part time in math and doing more office work until the end of 1998 when she got offered a full time office job, where she has been ever since. She still loves teaching. She helps tutor kids in math in her office, even if her colleagues in the office become annoyed at how good of a mood she gets once the tutoring is over.
But Wakeland can’t do it alone: she depends on the department chairs, the deans, and all the people who help make Fort Worth Country Day a better place.
“[These leaders] do things besides being in the classroom,” Wakeland said.
Through her administrative position at Fort Worth Country Day, Wakeland was able to find her place in school, but she does more than simply talk to kids in trouble and interview new students. Wakeland truly cares about each and every student, she sees them as the future of Fort Worth and even the country. The only thing that she wishes she could have is a closer relationship with all students, not just the ones that get into trouble.
“You don’t get familiar with [all the students], and they don’t get to be familiar with you,” Wakeland said.
Outside of her professional career, Wakeland is a feminist and an advocate for women’s rights. She cares about a woman’s ability to vote and have a say in the developments of the country. She grew up going to church wearing no bra simply to state the fact that women deserved a choice.
She was very close to her parents, and although her mother was hesitant about her daughter’s career choice, her father taught her an important lesson that helped Wakeland pursue teaching. That phrase was all it took to push her to come to Fort Worth Country Day as a permanent switch.
“Something that my dad said to me once was that teachers are called, and that resonated with me,” Wakeland said.
This is Wakeland’s last year at Fort Worth Country Day. She has made such a huge impact in the school and in turn, the lives of the students that walk in the halls of the Upper School. She will be truly missed by all of the students and appreciated for the 31 years of service she has given to the school.
“Teaching in general, and teaching here at Country Day have made my life better, and I’m happy about it, and I’ll miss it. I’ll genuinely miss it, and I don’t know what I’m going to do next, so stay tuned,” Wakeland said.
