By Rhonda Chambers
April, 2017
Margo Guilott retired from the St. Tammany School System in 2007 with 36 years of service.
She began her educational career as a 2nd grade teacher at Brock Elementary and went on to teach Title I Reading at the junior high level for 1 year. She then taught Title I Reading, English, and Spanish at the senior high school level. She was the Assistant Principal at Pearl River High for 4 years and was a Supervisor of Instruction for 18 years. In 2003 Margo was promoted to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, the position she held until her retirement.
Margo has chosen to lead a fulfilling second half of her life by teaching at the University of Southern Mississippi for four years and has been an education consultant since 2011. She has traveled all over the United States working with educators and has worked in Turkey, Canada, Spain, Chile, Panama, Honduras, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico. This fall she will be teaching a weeklong class in Guayaquil on curricular and instructional design. She is also involved in community activities such as serving as co-chair of the Slidell Economic Development Alliance.
Beyond that, Margo enjoys traveling for pleasure and spending time with Phil, her husband of 51 years, her children, grandchildren, friends, and extended family. “Life is good!”
She loves her yard so a typical day, during the warm months, begins by going outside to water and tend to her plants; then she has her breakfast. She and Phil usually have a project going, so they may work on the project. In the afternoon, she may pick up one of the grandchildren and take him or her somewhere or just take them back to her house to chill. Generally, they eat at home because Margo loves to cook, but two or three times a week, they eat out with friends.
Because she is not completely retired, she spends time writing articles for publication, preparing presentations for international conferences, and preparing workshops for teachers, principals, college professors, and educators in general. Margo has written numerous articles, a book on learning walks, and a chapter for a college textbook.
When asked if she had any guilty pleasures she said, “Coffee ice cream that I know adds pounds, but I just love it. It has to be Haagan Dazs!” Her favorite song ever would have to be “Through the Years” by Kenny Rogers. Her niece sang it to them at their 50th wedding anniversary. The words have a special significance to Phil and Margo, and they both like the melody.
Without a doubt her favorite time of the year is Christmas! She becomes childlike during the Christmas season. It takes her 3 days to decorate her entire house. In fact, she takes pictures so she can remember where everything goes. Since she was raised with the manger scene as the reason for the season, she has 3 elaborate manger scenes within her home. She collects ornaments from places she has visited. Therefore, decorating the tree is a reminder of all the memories collected along the way. Christmas Eve is her day. Margo loves to serve the people she loves and share that wonderful night with them.
