06/05/2026
It’s hard to believe that I’m already in my final week as DIS PTA President!
I tell people all the time that I consider DIS magical. The students are at such a special age … teetering between the little kids we knew & loved at WES & the teens they’re becoming. It’s an age filled with growth, learning to become more independent, & watching their personalities blossom, and it’s been such a privilege to have a front row seat the past few years.
The environment that Principal Nick Miller, Vice Principal Damien Headings, and the entire DIS staff have created truly allows the students to shine. I’m always impressed by their ability to make DIS such a warm & welcoming environment while also maintaining wonderful standards and high expectations. Thank you for always inviting me & the rest of the PTA volunteers with open arms, & for all that you do everyday to make DIS the exceptional & supportive school that it is for our students!!
One of the greatest gifts of this role has been the opportunity to get to know so many of your children better over the last few years. I was lucky enough to serve my first year while my son Emmett was still at DIS and a second year while my daughter Tallulah attended the school. Some of my favorite memories are seeing Emmett and Tallulah participate in the events we worked so hard to create alongside their classmates. I truly can’t say enough about both of their classes! There are so many amazing, creative, & kind students in Westlake. This is no surprise to me, as I’ve also gotten the opportunity to get to know so many of their parents better as well. Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in helping the DIS PTA thrive over the past few years, especially my board members. 💚 Your time, creativity, and dedication have made such a difference for our students, and I am so grateful for everything we accomplished together.
When I first became PTA President, one of my goals was to create a stronger sense of community & encourage involvement from parents who had never participated before. Looking back, some of my favorite memories aren’t the events themselves, but things like singing my heart out with all of you during karaoke, lingering in parking lots talking about life and parenting, and watching the parents, staff, and volunteers come together with the same goal: supporting kids simply because they cared. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
On a more personal note, I’m so thankful for the memories that this role has created within my family.
For the past few years, my youngest daughter Cordelia has been my right-hand girl alongside me for so many PTA adventures. She counted the Dover Dough in Dover Depot as a preschool lesson, attended bi-weekly meetings with Dr. Goggin at the BOE before she had even entered kindergarten, confidently let everyone know that she’s the boss of Mr. Miller, “helped” teach a PE lesson on jump ropes, & has considered Christine Del Priore & Michele Cruz two of her very best friends because of the kindness they’ve always shown her with coloring pages, listening to her stories, and letting her sing and dance for them each time she came into the office.
She grew up walking the hallways at DIS knowing she’d be greeted with hugs, smiles, enthusiastic cries of “Hi Coco!!!” from your thoughtful kids, and hoping that she’d run into one of her favorites - Annie - each time we went into the school. Cordelia served lemonade, “chaperoned” a field trip, toured the bus garage, and even had a wall of her artwork displayed in Mr. Miller’s office.
At the time, they seemed like small moments, but they ended up being some of our favorite memories together in the years leading up to her going off to school & starting her own adventure with WCSD. I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who showed her kindness & supported her “main character energy” the last few years!
Thank you all so much for making my “Mom Era” & "DIS PTA era” so fun, meaningful, and memorable. The memories from this chapter will always hold a special place in my heart.
To next year’s DIS PTA Exec Board: I wish you the very best as you continue creating memories and building community for DIS families & students. I can’t wait to see the amazing things you do to make the DIS PTA even better!
I’ll see you at LBMS!
With Love & Demon Pride,
Samantha Harriger
DIS PTA President
Dover Intermediate School PTA
💚
