Bill Howlett leaves impact on community
Photo courtesy of Peter Schield
Aside from being highly social and inviting, former assistant principal Bill Howlett was a huge outdoorsman. He loved fishing and hunting, and one of his happiest places was out on the fishing boat. “He liked the outdoors, I like the outdoors. So it was natural for us to talk about things like hunting or fishing- and we did spend some time fishing together on the boat. Actually we did have a lot of fishing outings together, where we would talk about hunting and our kids,” math teacher Darby Whitehill says.
Assistant Principal Bill Howlett passed away on Jan. 1 after a heroic battle with cancer. Howlett was loved and very helpful to everyone he came in contact with even if he didn’t know them. He is now gone, but his memories left behind will never be forgotten.
Howlett was very involved with the Stillwater Community; he leads the way setting examples for others to follow. He was very kind, selfless and sincere person. He worked hard trying to bring staff and students together, he was one of the few people students were not afraid to talk to, they were very open with him and he was open with them.
His Job
As an Assistant Principal in the White Pony Center, Howlett helped students with last names starting with Hb-O and all the staff within his pony center. Howlett often spoke to students, parents and staffs, focused to help them with solving any of their problems or help them with educational questions which helped students, parents, and staff to continue to make progress. As a result of his duties, he had many relationships and those relationships grew and became closer and more personal.
When Howlett returned for the 2014-15 school year he mentioned in a Stillwater Pony Express article “It feels so awesome [to be back]. I have missed the kids and the staff. Even the goofy, crude, misbehavior, and scheduling junk that comes along with the job. I even missed all of that if you can believe it or not. It’s kind of one of that count your blessing moments because it is a blessing to be here. It is so cool. I missed it.”
He worked with students all over the school. He was always smiling and laughing in the hallways and encouraged students to speak up and open up to him.
Center Secretary Shelly Enhelder who has known Howlett since they were young said, “Most kids were afraid to talk to a principal, but I don’t think kids were afraid of him at all.”
Cancer
Howlett loved his job and did it to the best it could be done, he did his job which helped make the teachers and staff members job easier. Howlett made an amazing comeback in the year 2015, to help and assist as he had always done. Prior to 2015, Howlett decided to step down from his position as the Assistant Principal in the White Pony Center to receive treatment for his cancer.
Howlett’s presence was missed by both the staff and the students. Howlett always did what he knew was best for the students and staffs in his school.
Howlett talked to students in a way that they would not fear him, but respect him and also feel like he was their friend. He brought a positive attitude to school day in and day out, and he also did his best to help out every student and staff he could.
Enhelder added, “Sometimes I still can hear his laugh in the hallways.”
Memories
Howlett did the observations for the World Language department and every time he did them he did all he could to make them fun and not boring. He joined in on the fun of being involved in the lesson as if he was just one of the students, which was helpful to both the teachers who are being observed, the students and for himself.
The week before Thanksgiving, after receiving the word that Howlett was going to be on Hospice Care, French teacher Jacqueline Parr took a day and did a lesson about kindness as she said Howlett was a very kind person and would have wanted the kids to learn about kindness.
Parr said, “I decided to do a lesson in his honor that day.”
Howlett’s kindness has impacted a lot of people’s lives leaving them with life lessons they won’t forget for the rest of their lives. He is truly missed by his workers and students who knew him or heard about him. The staff tries to stay positive and honor him whenever they get to work and students try to stay positive and pay respect to him whenever possible.
Enhelder added, “We know he’s in a better place and that we’re gonna miss him.”
Emmanuel is a 16 years old junior at Stillwater area high school, Kamara lives in Woodbury with his dad, step-mom, grandma, brother and sister. Kamara...
![Howlett was infamously known for making the White Pony Center an inviting place for students just swinging by and even those in trouble, by his inviting demeanor. "Sometimes it drove me nuts. I told him [Howlett] that those naughty kids needed discipline, but he would say something like, 'Shelly, he doesn't have a dad,' or something along those lines," secretary Shelly Enhelder says.](https://sahsponyexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/AWhowlettextra5-300x225.jpg)
Noah Ness • May 8, 2017 at 12:04 am
The article does a strong job highlighting how in touch Howlett was with the school and its students, and the quotes back up the story well. I especially liked the way that the article ended with a good quote.
lauren gella • Mar 28, 2017 at 12:17 pm
This article was extremely emotional to read which is a sign that it is a well written article. All students at SAHS can relate to this article and the readers learn so much about Howlett’s life; things they would otherwise might not have known. The quotes were also very deep and touching.
Andrew Wilcek • Mar 27, 2017 at 9:26 pm
Really powerful just reading this i felt moved with Shellys quotes. The passing of Mr Howlett and how big a part of Stillwater is really captured in this article and just how positive he was. Great article that captures a great person.
Hunter Hippel • Mar 27, 2017 at 7:22 pm
This was a really well written obituary. You did a nice job telling how much students loved him and how much he loved his job.
Hailey Buelow • Mar 27, 2017 at 6:47 pm
This article was very touching to read, and I personally chose to read it because I wanted to learn more about who Mr. Howlett was. The article could have used some more depth to give this touching story even more emotion, but overall it was well written and gave a good amount of information of Mr. Howlett, who he was, and how he impacted others.
Ebbie Benson • Mar 27, 2017 at 12:06 pm
Showing the different aspects of Howlett’s life provokes emotion and shows how Howlett was not just an assistant principal, but that he was also a contributor to the community and was loved by everyone. The quotes from his coworkers/friends show how much everyone appreciated him and what a positive role he had in peoples’ lives. Good article and must have been difficult to write about
Kalley Lewis • Mar 27, 2017 at 10:48 am
Some of the thoughts in this article could have used some expansion, but it is an overall great story. It gives a good understanding of who Mr. Howlett was and how impactful he was to the entire community of Stillwater.
Aaron Yang • Mar 12, 2017 at 10:34 pm
When looking at the page at a glance, what really caught my attention was the pull quote. It had an emotional touch and feel to it, and made me curious to read the article. What I liked about the article is that it can hit the reader’s emotion, especially if knowing Mr. Howlett. Many of the quotes in the story were also hitting an emotional side to it as well. The story was well written, and I really enjoyed the quotes.