2026年5月15日 / 美国东部时间晚上9:53 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
史蒂夫·哈特曼 报道
史蒂夫·哈特曼 是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的特派记者。他通过每周获奖的专题栏目《在路上》，为观众带来他所遇见的普通人的暖心故事。
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史蒂夫·哈特曼
亚特兰大 —— 58岁的佐治亚州亚特兰大人戴维·怀特在退休前曾有过一些先入为主的想法。
“我以为退休会是轻松惬意又充满乐趣的，”怀特告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。“……但事实并非如此。”
2025年9月，怀特在从事教育行业33年后退休，其中最后15年他担任伯吉斯-彼得森小学的校长。他的职业生涯十分卓越，曾荣获整个亚特兰大公立学区的“年度校长”称号。
他表示，自己离职主要是为了摆脱日常的繁杂事务。但拥有大量空闲时间的日子没过多久就让他感到厌烦。
“我当时就只是陪着我的猫待着，日子过得有点孤单，”怀特说。
怀特坦言，他真的开始想念自己的校园社区了。他清楚自己已经无法再担任校长一职，因为学校已经聘请了新的校长。但当一个不同的职位出现空缺时，他立刻就提交了简历。
“我当时心想，‘嗯，这倒挺有意思的。’我说，‘当然可以，去申请吧’，”伯吉斯-彼得森小学的新任校长霍莉·布鲁金斯在谈及怀特告知她打算申请该职位时说道。
他的职位名称是场地管理员，但实际上他就是个杂务工。从高压清洗浴室、检查灭火器到清理排水沟，所有工作他都包揽。
很多管理者都喜欢说每一份工作都很重要。但又有多少人真正认同这一点，并且切实地表现出来呢？寥寥无几，不像怀特这样。而且尽管从象征意义上说，他不再处于职业晋升的上升通道，但他似乎丝毫不在意。
“没错，如果按层级来看的话，我就是最底层的员工之一，”怀特说。“……这一点都不困扰我……我仍然觉得自己在为一个我真正在乎的地方做出有意义的贡献。”
A longtime Atlanta principal retired, then returned to his school as a handyman
May 15, 2026 / 9:53 PM EDT / CBS News
By Steve Hartman
Steve Hartman Correspondent
Steve Hartman is a CBS News correspondent. He brings viewers moving stories from the unique people he meets in his weekly award-winning feature segment “On the Road.”
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Steve Hartman
Atlanta — Going into retirement, 58-year-old David White of Atlanta, Georgia, had some preconceived notions.
“I thought it would be blissful and easy and joyful,” White told CBS News. “… It wasn’t quite.”
In September 2025, White retired after 33 years in education, the last 15 spent as principal at the Burgess-Peterson Academy, an elementary school. It was a career so illustrious that White was once awarded Principal of the Year for the entire Atlanta Public Schools district.
He said he left mostly to be free of the daily demands. But having so much free time got old.
“I was just hanging out with the cat, and it was a little lonely,” White said.
White said he really started missing his school community. He knew he couldn’t be principal again since they had already hired a new one. But when a different position opened up, he fired off his resume immediately.
“I said, ‘Hmm, OK, that’s interesting.’ I said, ‘Absolutely, apply,’” Holly Brookins, the new principal at Burgess-Peterson, told CBS News about when White notified her of his plans to apply for the position.
His job title is site manager, but he is basically the handyman. He does everything from power washing bathrooms and inspecting fire extinguishers to cleaning gutters.
A lot of managers like to say every job is important. But how many truly believe it and truly show it? Not many, and not like this. And although he’s no longer climbing the ladder, metaphorically, he doesn’t seem to mind in the least.
“Yeah, I’m one of the bottom rungs, if you look at in a hierarchical way,” White said. “… It doesn’t bother me at all… I still feel like I’m contributing meaningfully to a place I really care about.”
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