One thing Longview Elementary students shouldn’t do is dare their principal to do something.

She’d likely prove she isn’t afraid of much.

Bungee-jumping? Check. Scuba diving? Check. Rappelling cliffs? Check.

Shave her head?

“I draw the line at that,” new Longview Elementary Principal Torilyn Gillet said. “I’ll try almost anything if the opportunity is presented and it’s safe. I wouldn’t call myself a daredevil, I just am game to have many new experiences.” 

Gillett stepped into her first principal position shortly before the new school year. A quick shift in administrators sent former principal Becky Te’o, who has been at Longview since 2019, into Murray School District’s elementary director of teaching and learning position when that administrator left.

“I adore elementary kids,” Gillett said. “I always wanted to work with students. I like the community of a school building, and I enjoy watching students find their success and learn and grow.”

Her background is in school counseling. 

“I worked as a school counselor at Indian Hills Middle School (in Sandy) then I was the school counseling specialist for eight years in Canyon School District. I went back to school to earn my doctorate and to do admin(istration) for a new challenge,” Gillett said, adding her education doctorate is in educational policy and leadership from the University of Utah.

After graduating from Viewmont High in Bountiful, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Utah State in family and human development and her master’s in school counseling from the U of U. Previously, she taught preschool and has been an adjunct professor for Utah State and the University of Phoenix.

The past two years, Gillett served as an administrative intern at Murray High and now, she’s excited to be Longview’s principal.

“I want to foster an environment at Longview where everybody feels safe and welcome at school, that first, being the students, but also the faculty, the staff, parents and community members,” she said.

Gillett started doing that by immediately getting to know students. On the second day of school, she had met many and knew more than 20 of the 300 students by name.

“I have been to every lunch to help them navigate the lunch process. I'm visiting every class this week to just introduce myself to them,” she said.

Gillett plans to fill a bag of items from her office to take with her as she introduces herself. 

In it will be her University of Utah “U” and football player statue because “I love the University of Utah sports and especially their football team.” 

Gillett will pack her Ruth Bader Ginsburg doll, because “she's my mentor; she always fought for rights of people.” 

Also packed in the bag will be her Murray baseball hat because “I love Murray High and will miss them, but I’m happy to be here. I love watching baseball. My dad's trying to go to all the (major league baseball) ballparks. I’ve gone with him to some. I love that it just gives me time with my dad.”

She will return later to give students an interactive lesson about PRIDE, the school acronym for purpose, respect, integrity, diversity and empathy. She plans to also go into classrooms to read — her new favorite author is Kobi Yamada of the New York Times’ bestseller, “What do you do with a Chance?” — and she is willing to play four-square or other games at recess.

Gillett already has scheduled her calendar with PTA’s carnival and a family engagement night this fall.

“I’m all about supporting the PTA and what they have planned,” she said. “I want this to be a welcoming community. I want to know the students and the community, and have them know me, to build that safety and inclusivity. It will take me a minute to learn 300 kids, but I plan to be visible, greeting everybody as they come in.”

She also is focusing on putting academic strategies in place.

“We’ll continue to focus on improving our writing and reading as well as our math scores, moving on a good trajectory,” Gillett said. “Writing really starts at the sentence level. I want to help them build good sentences and adding to those sentences to a deeper level. We’ll start small, then build. Instead of saying, ‘write a paragraph on your family,’ we’ll have them start with a sentence and then develop it. We’ll use a lot of the programs for reading and math that will help them with those skills and comprehension.”

Simply put, she wants the students to find success: “I want to help them to build that foundation so they can continue to grow and become accomplished as they get older.” λ

Five fun facts about Longview Elementary 

• She loves to travel and would like to visit Iceland, Costa Rica and Scandinavia.

• She has a shoe collection of 100 pairs. “I don’t judge other people’s shoes; I like to have options and feel shoes pull an outfit together.”

• She doesn’t own a TV.

• Her dinner preference would be sushi, preferably eel, and Greek food.

• She likes any candy except for chocolate-covered fruit. Her dessert preference is a sugar cookie with “good” frosting. “It's all about frosting, like an almond-vanilla buttercream.”

Principal Torilyn Gillett