Former Hilltop Elementary School counselor Michael Ball won’t have trouble figuring out ways to stay busy during his first summer of retirement. But that doesn’t make stepping away from a job and Argyle ISD school he’s loved for 31 years easier.
Ball admits he got emotional quickly when students, parents, and staff at Hilltop stealthily coordinated a surprise celebration in his honor on May 17 — the last Friday before school let out for the kids the following Thursday. Chants of “Mr. Ball … Mr. Ball …” rained down from all corners of the cafeteria as the beloved counselor sheepishly accepted a cookie cake, various heartfelt gifts, and lots of hugs.
And if that weren’t enough of a shock to the system, Ball gave what he called “a very difficult speech.”
“It feels like I’m walking through some kind of dream,” he said later. “You spend so much time in a career you love, imagining what it might feel like when you eventually retire and the last few days leading up to it. Now, I’m walking through it and seeing it all unfold. It’s overwhelming. It’s a blessing. It’s been a real privilege to serve such a wonderful community and be around people who are so amazing and caring. I am thankful for all the people in my life who saw things in me that I couldn’t even see in myself. I can’t tell you how difficult it is for me to leave.
“Of all the things I’ll miss about being at Hilltop, there’s nothing I’ll miss more than the kids. That’s the hardest part. They are at the heart of what we do. I am thankful for the many things they taught me daily in my career. I will miss all the funny and profound things they say and their thoughtful support and appreciation.”
Ask any student, parent, or teacher at Hilltop, and they’ll tell you Mr. Ball was always more than a school counselor. He’s a pillar of the community and just a genuinely caring family man. He and his wife, Amy — a second-grade teacher at Hilltop — celebrate 27 years of marriage this month. Together, they have two children, Tristan and Trinity. Tristan is working toward his teaching certification at UNT, while Trinity is a company dancer for Ballet North Texas in Dallas and is earning a business degree from Lamar University.
As a counselor and educator, Ball has always gone out of his way to make school fun, build genuine relationships, and add value. Ball earned his Master’s in counseling and student services from the University of North Texas. He served as an at-risk teacher in Van Alstyne before joining Argyle ISD for the 1992-1993 school year. Since then, he’s coached the popular chess clubs at Hilltop and Selwyn School in Denton — Hilltop had 80 kids in its chess club this school year alone. He also kicked off the school’s Safety Patrol program in 1999 and brought the national Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) program to the campus in 2013.
The purpose of the safety patrol is to help make the car line run more efficiently before school, but Ball also saw it as a way to teach 5th-graders about leadership and responsibility. By bringing a highly successful national program like Watch D.O.G.S. to Argyle, local dads and other father figures could be more involved in hallways and classrooms.
Ball’s accolades don’t stop there. The Denton resident continues to run a summer chess camp. He has taught private swimming lessons for 42 years and will continue doing so in retirement. He also grooms dogs and does therapy dog work with their two golden retrievers, Juno and Ruby.
Clearly, he won’t struggle to stay busy this summer and beyond.
“A friend told me I should do nothing in retirement for about three months — just find 10 shows on Netflix and binge-watch them all,” Ball said with a laugh. “That doesn’t really sound like me, but admittedly, I tend to stay busy to an unhealthy degree. So, the first step might be learning to slow down a little. I have concluded that I need to make time and space to discern what life’s next chapter will look like. I look forward to exploring new opportunities, swimming regularly, practicing guitar more consistently, and spending more time with family and friends. It’s a journey I’m embarking on with both excitement and trepidation.”
He added on retirement, “People always ask me, ‘Are you excited? Are you counting down the days to retirement?’ The truth is no. My wife knows I’ve been struggling, and I can’t thank her enough for being my voice of reason and sounding board. Leaving is hard, but she told me she knows when I’ll finally be excited. When I asked when, she said, ‘The first day of school next year when my alarm goes off in the morning, and you get to roll over and go back to bed.’ Who knows … we’ll have to see.”
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