Pete Chila

photos to come

The 1960 Reflector says “Pete is ambition in the flesh…”  

When he left GHS in 1960 his ambition was a career in the military.  The idea was to do a 20 or 30 year career as an officer and then retire to private life in educational administration.  He wanted to be a Captain by age 30.

Pete entered Youngstown State University and enrolled in ROTC.  Things were going well toward his ambition until he had to take a physical for Advanced ROTC.  He could not pass the hearing test.  This meant no military Captain by age 30.  So he changed course to public school administration and a goal to be a school principal by age 30. 

He achieved this goal of principal at age 26 after spending 4 years teaching elementary and special education students in both Fontana, California and Warren Ohio.  In 1968 Pete became Principal of two elementary schools at the same time.  They were Goshen Center and Beloit in the West Branch Local School District which is located in the SW portion of Mahoning County.

In 1969 Pete was offered the post of Assistant Director of Student Affairs for the East Liverpool campus of Kent State University.   After three years there he had to make a choice.  Either continue with Kent State, or,  complete the residency requirements for the doctoral program at the University of Akron.  Pete knew he would have to have a Doctorate to continue at Kent State anyway so he elected to leave KSU and become a graduate resident.  By this time his focus had changed to educational administration in the public school setting instead of higher education.

Dr. Chila refers to these as his “lightening Years.”  So much change in so little time. First Graduation from YSU in ’64; four different employment situations in two states; marriage to his wife Phyllis in ’65; the birth of two children in ’66 and 67; completion of the MA  degree in ’67; the move back home with a one year old daughter (Maureen) and a one month old son (Paul) in ’67; and finally acceptance into the doctoral program at Akron in ’69.

“Looking back the residency requirement of full time study was not a bad deal,” Pete explains. “Residents received free tuition for one academic year, a stipend of $2000 and a free special faculty parking sticker.  The parking sticker is a real perk,” he adds.

Upon completion of his residency in 1973 Pete Chila followed in footsteps of GHS Principal Donald Boyee’s by becoming Principal of Chalker High School in Southington Ohio (west of Warren).  That town was home to the Chalker family.  Many remember Dr. Chalker of Girard.  He was from Southington and the school was named after his family who had donated the land and building which today is still used as the high school.

GHS Principal Donald Boyee was Pete’s mentor.  He met with Pete early on to provide him with insight and confidence about pursuing a career in educational administration.  Like Mr. Boyee, Pete was elevated to principal of a high school without having first taught in a high school setting. Mr. Boyee’s advice was to “find out what the standards are and enforce them”  This became the basis of Pete’s 40 year career in educational administration.   “Mr. Boyee’s recent funeral was certainly a celebration of a life well lived,” Pete says.

Pete only stayed on as high school principal for one year before he was offered the job of Secondary School Administrator for the Ashtabula County.  He stayed on in this capacity for 12 years. 

For four of those 12 years Pete worked alongside GHS graduate Derrill Tuttle who was the county Elementary School Administrator. The two had started as students  together in North Avenue and were in the same class for 12 years.  

“Working together was a pleasure,” Pete says. “We were able to put together several class pictures from North Avenue.  We were surprised at the ongoing stability of the class enrollment from grades 1 through 7.”

Talking about the “good old days” with Derrill was a pleasure.   Derrill Tuttle was killed in a tragic automobile accident with GHS graduate Leland Khim in the early 80’s.

Pete left Ashtabula in 1986 to become middle school principal in East Palestine, Ohio.  He stayed there for 4 years before joining the Youngstown Employment Training Corp as an administrator.  The YETC  was set up at YSU to retrain people whose job had been eliminated due to technological  advancement or factory closings.  Pete stayed 5 years in this position until retirement in 1995.   This ended Pete Chila’s 30 year career in Ohio Public Education Administration.   But his career in education was far from over

Two days after retirement in 1995,  Pete accepted the position of Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio.  Three years later he would become Superintendent of Schools where he would stay until his second retirement in 2008.

He enjoys the distinction of being the first Lay Superintendent.  There are more than 1000 high school diplomas in the Diocese that have Pete’s signature on them.

“There are not many administrators who have walked two sides of the same street, both public and private education,”  Pete notes.

Now two years into retirement Pete says, “I enjoy having control over my time.” 

Pete’s days at GHS did much to prepare him for later life.  “The defined curriculum for college preparatory students did much to prepare me for higher education,” he says. “That has all but disappeared, much to the detriment of today’s students,”  he adds.

Pete’s membership in the Key Club, and especially it’s Presidency in his Senior Year, prepared him for later leadership positions, especially the presidency of his social fraternity at YSU.

 Pete does not cite any particular teacher as a favorite.  “Having the advantage of 40 years as an educational administrator and dealing with many teaching staffs, I can say with certainty that the teachers of GHS during our years there were certainly first class teachers with great teaching skills,” Pete says.  “One of my favorite pastimes is to go to the Girard Public Library and browse the old Reflectors,” he adds.  “It is something to see that the teachers we had were brought together beginning in the 1930’s, thru the 40’s and into the early 50’s.  They reflected stability under the leadership of a very capable Principal.  We were the lucky Ones.”

Most GHS grads would agree that Pete hits it right on the money.  The Students at GHS in the 50’s and 60’s were indeed Blessed.

Pete Chila’s proudest moment came when his daughter Maureen was sworn into the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant.  “What the father did not accomplish, the daughter did,” Pete explains.  “She went on the serve for four years active duty and achieved the rank of Captain at the age of 26.”

Pete is married to the former Phyllis Jeanne DeGennaro, a graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown.  Phyllis was an elementary teacher in the Austintown Local Schools for 37 years.  Today they live in Canfield.

Daughter Maureen resides in Cleveland Ohio and is employed at the Cleveland Clinic.  

Son Paul is a Chemical Engineer with a high degree of computer skills, employed in the oil industry,  in Houston TX. 

The Chilas have no grandchildren yet but do have two “Grand Dogs” Buster and Coco who live in Houston with Paul. 

Today Pete is back in education, this time as a student.  He is enrolled at YSU in the “over 60” college program.  He is currently taking a class in the History of the United States from 1920 to 1945.  “The parallels between then and now are remarkable,” Pete says.  “It really helps develop one’s perspective about life in General.

Ambition, yes.  Achievment---most certainly.  Well done Pete!