Staff Spotlight: Mary Waterhouse: Two careers and more than 40 years in service to others

By Amy Haggerty

Mary Waterhouse has worked for Stockbridge Schools since 2008, with students in grades ranging from middle school to high school. Being a teacher of special needs students requires much patience and creativity. During her tenure, Waterhouse has worked with a wide range of students with various disabilities and difficulties.

Besides teaching, she is also president of the Stockbridge Education Association and has negotiated several new contracts for the teachers. Waterhouse organizes testing for students in grades eight through eleven who need extended time taking the PSAT and SAT tests, and she has mentored a new teacher. Due to her many responsibilities, Waterhouse is generally very busy and tends to work long hours.

Born in Saginaw, her parents moved their large family of six boys and five girls to Williamston when Waterhouse was four years old. Her father worked as a conveyor systems engineer. Later in life, her mother went to work part-time at the Fowlerville dime store and was active on the Fowlerville City Council.

Like so many who have been interviewed for this column, she credits her mother as being her greatest influence in life.

“My mother is the person I always reflect back on. Her stamina, patience, and faith have supported me through the years. My mother would say, ‘Things will look better in the morning,’ and they always did!”

Growing up in a small town has also remained an important factor in her life.

“I love a small-town atmosphere, especially the ability to make a difference and not be lost in the crowd.”

Waterhouse married her husband 25 years ago. Unfortunately, in 2017 she lost her husband to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. She is very proud that, while working full-time, she was able to keep him cared for at home until his final year. All the while, she remained a pillar of strength while enduring this personal stress.

She has one adult daughter, Heather, and two adult stepchildren, Christopher and Stacey. Waterhouse also has two grandchildren whom she absolutely adores.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from MSU, a Master of Arts in Education with a concentration in special education from U of M Flint, and an education specialist degree with a concentration in leadership—also from U of M Flint. But her path to teaching took a rather indirect route; before becoming a teacher, she worked as a professional cook for twenty years in the MSU Food Services Department. She catered for weddings and special events, cooked in the dormitories for 900-1000 students per meal, and worked even larger events attended by upwards of 3,500 people at the Wharton Center and Breslin Center.

“While at MSU, I had the opportunity to be on the cooking team for President Clinton and met him in person,” Waterhouse shared.

What she likes most about working in Stockbridge is her colleagues.

“We unite to create an environment, community, and culture of caring for our students, staff, and community.

Jeff Trapp, principal for Stockbridge High School appreciates the work Waterhouse does.

“Mary does a phenomenal job as the department head for the special education department and making decisions for what is best for her students and the whole school.”

Waterhouse considers her greatest accomplishment in life being able to have two careers for over twenty years each. She treasures the life experiences and the people she has met through the years. She is also grateful for the opportunity to obtain three college degrees while working those careers, all while raising her daughter and being a supportive wife.

As she reflects on her past, Waterhouse sums her life up this way:

“I want to be able to say I made a difference in someone’s life, that my contribution made an impact.”

Her advice to Stockbridge students: “Things look better in the morning.”