By TENZIN DORJEE
Diane Klibansky, house principal of Jenkins House, says her final farewell to Malden High School as the 2013-2014 school year comes to a close. With her retirement, Klibansky will be sincerely missed by her fellow staff and the student body of MHS. Klibansky has dedicated 17 long and strong years here at MHS and was also involved for 6 years in the middle school level as a reading specialist in the Title 1 program. MHS is a place she happily described as “a wonderful place to work” because she “loved all the people [she’s] worked with.”
Klibansky is excited yet sad to have finally reached the end of her time at MHS. Looking back, she described her favorite memory at MHS being “when [the school] finally finished putting the school into 4 houses [as] it gave [her] own territory” to be in charge of.
A beloved member of the MHS community, fellow house principals Marilyn Slattery, Nathan Lamar, and Christopher Mastrangelo, have had the pleasure of knowing Klibansky beyond her job description. Holland House principal Slattery described her as a “friend” with “a very good sense of humor,” and Boyle House principal Mastrangelo called her a “mentor,” explaining he has learned more from her than she may even realize. Mastrangelo adds that Klibansky is always one to “respect people enough to be totally honest with them.”
The Boyle house principal also mentions saying whenever he needed someone to balance him out, he “reached out to her” for help. Mastrangelo concluded by speaking highly of Klibansky’s remarkable ability to somehow “find a way to forge connections with people.” Lamar, house principal of Brunelli House, highlighted another strong trait about Klibansky which is to be able to truly listen to others: Lamar describes that she always “allows [students] [to] talk all the way through,” to hear them out before saying anything in return.
All three principals agreed that Klibansky, in the words of Mastrangelo, “is one of the most professional people [they have] ever met.” Slattery even additionally says that Kliblansky always kept the three “in line” with due dates and such. She even went on to jokingly add that Klibansky is almost like “Brown’s work wife [as] she reins him in too.”
With the jokes aside, Lamar said sincerely that Klibansky “will be greatly missed.” However, Mastrangelo also expressed his excitement for her as now she will be able to “spend all [her] time with her grandkids.” Lastly, Slattery expresses with one phrase, but with great meaning, “das vidanya”, which is Russian, for ‘goodbye’, since Klibansky is Russian.
Now with more time on her hands, while the she will miss MHS and all the memories created with her fellow staff and students, she is excited to be able to get “to do a little traveling, being with her grandchildren,” and jokingly added, “[and] more sleep.” MHS will forever be grateful for the service that Diane Klibansky has dedicated to us. The MHS student body and staff all wish her all the best.
