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MARTINO JUNIOR HIGH School Principal Del Bitter is retiring after a career in education that spans 34 years, seven principals, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students. He ''opened'' Martino as its first principal 21 years ago.
Principal retires after 34 years in education  Share
If you go by the numbers, Del Bitter's are impressive. Over the past 34 years in education, Del Bitter has worked for seven different principals, supervised 180 teachers, and educated thousands of kids. He also wrote four cumbersome applications for the coveted Blue Ribbon Award Martino Junior High School won in 1999-2000, an accomplishment he puts at the top of his list of career achievements. Now, the popular principal at Martino is retiring, after 21 years at the helm. He leaves a legacy of academic improvements and happy kids in a positive environment. His career has taken him all over the suburban area, to Downers Grove, then Frankfort, to Flossmoor, to Braidwood, and finally, to New Lenox. He is one of only a handful of principals who can say they ''opened'' a school, as was the case at Martino, when the first students walked through the doors there in 1988.
''It was a big job,'' he recalled, ''but (retired Superintendent) Alex (Martino) was very involved. He and Larry Surgeon (former buildings and grounds supervisor) did a lot of work to get this building done really well.'' When it came time to open Liberty Junior High School six years ago, Martino was far over-capacity, with 1,071 students crammed into a building made for 900. ''It was very crowded. When we were all together (in one building), we were the biggest feeder school to Lincoln-Way,'' he noted. As a major part of the transition team, Bitter had to decide how the teaching staff was divided Ð no small task. because many teachers loved Martino Junior High and preferred to stay there. At the same time, there were teachers he especially wanted to keep: ''There were many teachers that I really, really liked. ''I personally worked with 180 teachers, and many of those teachers were moving to Liberty. They had a choice, to say 'I want to go to Liberty.' But many of them wanted to stay here.'' To make the transition easier for the faculty, he said, he tried to group them together with others he knew they were comfortable with. Still, it was not easy to do. In the end, the teachers carried on the philosophy that they had learned under Bitter's tutelage: motivate the child, help him learn, create a positive environment. Motivating the children, in fact, has been a driving force for Bitter, both in the classrooms where he taught 34 years ago, and as an administrator. ''I enjoy motivating children to learn. I worked very closely with the teachers here. My number one goal was always to make a productive climate where teachers were respected and children were safe. That's the thing people commented on most often Ð the positive climate here.'' Proof of that was the successful graduation of 337 students earlier this month, and also, that prestigious and difficult-to-earn Blue Ribbon Award. 'The biggest accomplishment was the Blue Ribbon,'' Bitter agreed. ''Besides opening the new school, the Blue Ribbon was the biggest accomplishment for me. ''I wrote three applications before the fourth one won. What we tried to do was include all the 'best practices.' We were doing all the right things. ''We became a better school for having won the Ribbon. We were improving all the time, our test scores were getting better and better, and I enjoyed seeing that improvement. Then, when we won the Blue Ribbon Award, we kept improving after that. 'This has not been a school that has stayed the same.'' Bitter credits support from the school community for much of its success. ''For most of the families in New Lenox, education is very important,'' he said. ''That is one of the reasons I stayed here as long as I have Ð the community is very supportive.'' Among his favorite memories of Martino Junior High is the time First Lady Michelle Obama visited. ''She came in and talked with the kids Ð we had an outstanding group of eighth graders Ð and spent the day with them. Michelle did a wonderful job. She's just a wonderful person,'' he recalled. Now, with just a short time to go before he leaves Martino, Bitter is planning a return to teaching at the University of St. Francis and Lewis University this fall. ''I like teaching,'' he admitted. ''I just like teaching, and the activity.'' Still, he said, he will miss the Martino staff and the kids: ''They bring so much enthusiasm.'' A graduate of Duke University in North Carolina, where he earned a degree in psychology, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he completed his masters degree, Bitter also looks forward to golf, gardening, playing the piano more often, and getting involved with some community service work. He and his wife, Joy, marketing manager at Daubert-Cromwell in Alsip, are the parents of one son, Cristian, a student at Robert Morris College in Chicago, and one daughter, Melissa, a member of the Class of 2009 at Lincoln-Way East. Karen Haave is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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