One year into retirement from three decades as an educator, Rosa I. Demby knew it was time to return.

The 33-year veteran of Concordia Parish schools has been named principal of Holy Family Catholic School. She relishes the opportunity.

&uot;I was like a fish out of water,&uot; Demby said, as she smiled and related her attempts at other kinds of work, as well as vacations, she made during the past year.

&uot;Teaching has been the love of my life,&uot; she said. &uot;In Concordia Parish, I was in the math lab, a language arts teacher, a counselor, a vice principal and then principal at Ferriday Lower Elementary School.&uot;

The new position poses some different opportunities, Demby said. &uot;I am going from a school of 400-plus students and 64 teachers to 125 students and 10 teachers.&uot;

Further, she will be moving from a public to a religious-based school setting. &uot;I look forward to the spiritual side of it.&uot;

Despite some differences in the setting, she said, &uot;everything else is the same. Children are children, and they have the same needs and desires. They need the same discipline and the same education.&uot;

Still, during the years she has been an educator, Demby has seen challenges change for teachers. She will bring those experiences to her new position.

&uot;Children are exposed to so many things. We at school have to be the force to put the good things in their lives,&uot; she said. &uot;Teaching today is not just about reading, writing and arithmetic. We have to lay foundations and use new methods. We have technology and we have learning centers.&uot;

Demby grew up in Cannonsburg, where her father was a Baptist minister and her mother, a teacher.

&uot;My father was my pastor. My mother was my first teacher,&uot; she said. &uot;They were good role models for me.&uot;

The new principal has met most of the Holy Family teachers and is enthusiastic about the upcoming school year, she said.

&uot;I have no doubt about the competency and proficiency of dedicated teachers and staff to conquer each and every challenge,&uot; she said.

What’s more, she looks forward to support from the community and from the students’ families.

Demby replaces former principal Sister Marie Santry, who has left to study at Boston College during the coming year.