Groton’s Barbara Case garners award for exceptional leadership

In early March, the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) held its Winter Institute & Lobby Day, at which Groton native, Groton High School (GHS) 1987 alumna, and former GHS principal, Barbara Case, was presented with NYCOSS’ annual appreciation award.

The award is given in recognition of a NYCOSS member’s efforts on behalf of the council and its initiatives. Case was cited as having “demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to NYSCOSS and LEAF, Inc. [Leadership Educational Achievement Foundation], and consistently gone above and beyond to contribute her time, energy, and expertise while serving on several committees, and being a pivotal leader in the Women’s Initiative — breaking barriers and setting a standard for equity and excellence in school leadership.”

Case is currently the superintendent of Spencer-Van Etten Central School District, but her Groton roots run deep. The daughter of Frank and Pauline Satterly, she was born and raised in Groton, along with her brothers, Mark and Eric.

At GHS, Barbara was a cheerleader, a member of Student Council, a statistician for varsity baseball, and a member of the chorus, but possibly her greatest achievement was meeting and marrying her high school sweetheart, Rick Case. They were married in January, 1992 and added their children, Allison (GHS alumna 2011) and Charlie (GHS alumnus 2017), along the way.

“I knew I planned to study political science when I was in high school,” Barbara said. “I wanted to be a lobbyist on Capitol Hill. My mom kept telling me to be a teacher — probably because she taught at Groton Elementary for over 40 years!”

Eventually, Barbara did become a teacher, but not before she had a bit of immersion in her political aspirations. She attended SUNY Cortland to study political science, and while there, she served as an intern for Congressman Sherwood Boehlert at his office in Washington, D.C.

“Congressman Boehlert taught me how democracy works, and I got so much from that experience,” Barbara said. “I drafted letters for him to write back to high school students who wrote to him, and I also led all the Capitol tours for student and teacher groups. It all clicked for me then!”

When Barbara went back to SUNY Cortland to resume classes, she added education to her class load and left in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and secondary education in social studies.

“I worked at Cargill Salt in Lansing in customer service until 1995 before I got my first teaching job,” Barbara explained. “I worked at Mohawk Central School teaching seventh through 12th grade social studies for a year, then Binghamton High School for two years. But in 1998, I was able to come back to Groton as a reading teacher in the middle school.”

Barbara said that her “dream job” opened for her in 2000 at GHS, and she spent the next five years teaching social studies in collaboration with another teacher, Cathy Spallone, until an opportunity arose to become the director of adult education and GED principal at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. She remained there until 2009.

“I was able to return to Groton again and was the high school principal until 2012,” Barbara said. “But then, I tried something new as the data coordinator for the Onondaga-Cayuga-Madison BOCES. I learned a lot that has since helped me as a superintendent, but I really missed the kids, so I went to George Junior Republic (GJR) as its principal in 2014.”

GJR was Barbara’s final stint as a principal. She became the superintendent at General Brown School District in Watertown in January 2018, before heading to Spencer-Van Etten in August 2022, where she remains as superintendent today.

Barbara said that she was truly shocked when she received the phone call from Chuck Dedrick, the executive director of NYCOSS, letting her know that she was chosen for the annual award.

“When I asked why I was chosen,” Barbara explained, “[Dedrick] said, ‘You are a leader who is very humble and always willing to do whatever is asked of you. You go above and beyond without expecting recognition, and that lack of expectation is the main reason you were chosen.’”

Reflecting on the whole experience, Barbara said that her lasting impression after the award ceremony was about how many people stopped to tell her about situations or times they had worked with her, or to say that she had helped them with something education-related — letting her know how they had carried her words or actions with them and had never forgotten them.

“That was pretty powerful for me,” Barbara said. “This is my 30th year in education, and I feel like I’m leaving a legacy — like I really did make a difference.”

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922. 

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