After 31 years in education — the last 23 at Chantilly High — Naomi Dixon is retiring. Besides teaching English and journalism and chairing the English Department for nine years, she was advisor for the school newspaper, The Purple Tide, for 20 years.
And although that's a long time, she relished every moment working with the newspaper staff. "I really did enjoy it," she said. "My only regret is that I didn't start being a newspaper advisor sooner."
Originally from Virginia Beach and now living in Warrenton, Dixon worked on her own high-school paper as a reporter, managing editor and editor-in-chief. She had such a good experience with it that she wanted to become a newspaper advisor, herself.
"On a high-school papers, you're not judged whether you're rich or poor or in the right clique," she explained. "If you did your work, then people accepted you, and I thought that was a place where kids in high school could belong."
Dixon began her career teaching middle-school and then high-school English. The first year she was Chantilly's newspaper advisor, the staff's only equipment was an old typewriter.
"We'd type the stories and send them to the printer and lay them out afterward," she said. "Then we'd send them back to be printed. We still [produced] the same number of issues — nine or 10 a year; that blows my mind. Now, the kids do the writing, typesetting and layout on the computer and use the latest Macs."
Dixon said the toughest thing for her was to let them make their own decisions, because she could have done it easier. But she knew that, only by doing so — and sometimes making mistakes — would they learn. Indeed, her greatest satisfaction was "watching the kids succeed and learn to put the paper together."
Over the years, The Purple Tide won many awards and figured into the school's Wachovia Cup wins. Said Dixon: "About 10 years ago, we got a First Place for Excellence in High School Newspapers for Virginia, and it was exciting to listen to people praise [the students] at the ceremony."
She attributes the accolades to the staff's hard work and desire to do well. The newspaper consistently won awards from: Quill & Scroll, Columbia (University) Scholastic Press Assn., National Scholastic Press Assn. (NSPA), Virginia High School League and Southern Interscholastic Press Assn. The paper was even inducted into the NSPA's Hall of Fame.
Many of Dixon's students have gone on to their own success in journalism. Grace Jean works for the TV program, "Dateline NBC," in Washington, D.C., and 1995 grad Brad Jenkins is features editor for the Daily News Record in Harrisonburg. He nominated Dixon this year for Fairfax County Teacher of the Year.
"It's mostly because of her that I'm in newspapers," he said. "When I was writing her nomination, I realized how much of an influence she had on me. She saw in me talents I didn't see in myself and pushed me to do things with them while I was in high school. She encouraged me to be bold and told me not to be afraid to ask for something. She said, 'All they can do is say no.'"
While Jenkins edited The Purple Tide, he said, Dixon "trusted us and gave us the responsibility. She didn't force her views on us." Even now, he'll call her for advice on his career or a story he's doing. "I feel like she's still my teacher and I'm still learning from her," he said. "And the stuff she taught me, about relating to people and being a leader, I can use in any career."
Chantilly forensics teacher Don Drayer has known Dixon 20 years. "I think you can tell a great teacher by the number of kids who come back to visit, and she always has lots of them," he said. "And the students I have of hers that come in to speech [class] are good writers because of the journalism training she gives them. I'll miss her a lot."
Yearbook advisor Mary Kay Downes called her "an institution — when you think of The Purple Tide, you think of Naomi Dixon. She's well-known throughout the state, presents at national conventions and has played a major role in developing the journalism program of studies for the county."
And although Dixon says it's time for her to do something else, she'll miss her students and the paper — and they'll certainly miss her.