Lillian Hunter-Ebersole, also called Lil Hunter, is excited to be back at Gig Harbor High School as an assistant principal for the rest of the school year. It has been 25 years since she started out her administrative career here in the same office, which means that she had some of the current student’s parents as students at the time. In total, she has been in education for over 40 years and was happily retired when she got the phone call from the school about an open spot for the role of assistant principal. Although she was ready to enjoy retirement, she gladly stepped in and took the offer. “There are still a few teachers left that were here all those years ago, so it’s been just a wonderful experience to come back to where I started my administrative career,” Mrs. Hunter said.

Mrs. Hunter was born in Denmark but moved with her parents when she was about 3 years old. They lived in both Canada and Utah before the family finally settled down in the Pacific Northwest about the time when Mrs. Hunter finished up elementary school. During her years in high school, she was active in leadership, both as a class officer and a student body officer, because girls weren’t allowed to participate in sports at the time. The experience that she got from doing these leadership activities helped her set a foundation for her future jobs, one of which was being on the Tacoma city council for 4 years. In addition to Gig Harbor, she has also administered other schools such as Lincoln and Capital.

Although she is only going to be here until June, Mrs. Hunter has one clear goal of what she wants to accomplish while working here. “My goal is to be supportive of teachers and students in realizing their own goals that they’ve set for themselves,” said Mrs. Hunter. Although the school has its issues and problems, she believes that it is well run by skilled teachers and students that have formed a positive community. “I like to focus and really celebrate what’s working and let that cheer us up as we move forward to take care of things that need improvement,” said Mrs. Hunter. She loves working with the students and helping them reach their goals. “Kids can come and visit me. I work with mostly 9th and 10th graders, but I always have a full bucket of Red Vines for anybody who visits,” said Mrs. Hunter with a smile.

In addition to being a student-dedicated assistant principal, Mrs. Hunter loves spending her time crafting things. She has a sewing workshop with a whopping 14 sewing machines that she uses to make textile art. She even had a gallery show a few years ago where she was the featured artist. “That was very exciting for me; I loved that,” said Mrs. Hunter. In addition to textile art, she has expanded her skills by trying out woodworking. So far she has taken only one class, but she hopes that she will soon be able to craft different things out of wood. “We’ll see how that plays out; hopefully I’ll be able to keep all my fingers,” said Mrs. Hunter with a laugh. Another side hustle of hers is working with animal rescue, specifically dogs. “At any given time I will have a house full of dogs—mostly beagles,” said Mrs. Hunter. She has been housing animals for about 20 years now and is happy to help them find new and loving homes.

Whether you’re on the lookout for a new dog, need someone to talk to, or just get a craving for some Red Vines, then our lovely assistant principal will be there to help you. So be sure to say hi and introduce yourself to Mrs. Hunter before the school year ends!