When Dr. Carrie Greer walks the halls of Liberty Junior High School, she still finds herself remembering where her locker was, the school dances she attended, and the teachers who helped shape her future.
Now, more than 30 years after attending the Richardson ISD campus as a student, Greer is returning as its new principal.
Making the moment even more meaningful, her new assistant principal is Doug Planey, the same seventh-grade math teacher who taught her during his first year in the classroom.
“It’s all very surreal for me,” Greer said. “Every moment I walk down the hallway, it’s just a flood of memories that come back to me.”
Greer attended Liberty Junior High from 1992 to 1995, completing seventh, eighth, and ninth grades at the campus. She said returning to the school where she learned as a teenager feels like coming full circle after a 25-year career in education.
Carrie Greer, formerly Sanderson, pictured in her 7th grade yearbook at Liberty Jr. HS in Richardson ISD.
“You know, the 90s was a great time,” she said. “But now, to think that I’m on the other side of it and I get to support and serve the students of this community, that’s why I use the word surreal. I think it’s just a wonderful feeling, and it’s an honor to be entrusted with the school that I went to.”
One of the educators she remembers most was Mr. Planey.
“We felt he was a relatable teacher,” Greer said. “He made math interesting and fun, and I took away so much from him. Because he was so personable is why I remembered him all of those years.”
The lessons stuck. After graduating, Greer built a career in Richardson ISD, teaching at her former elementary school and serving in multiple leadership roles across the district. She later specialized in math education and earned her doctorate last year.
Meanwhile, Planey’s own connection to Liberty also spans decades.
He attended the school as a student from 1980 to 1983 before returning for student teaching and eventually landing his first teaching job there. He later served in district administration, worked with Richardson ISD’s math department, and became principal of Liberty Junior High himself back in 2013.
Mr. Planey pictured in a group photo when he was a teacher at Liberty Jr. HS in the early 90s. Carrie Greer is pictured as a student in the same photo elsewhere in the group.
“Life takes you lots of different paths. And my mind’s always been on Liberty. I’ve loved the neighborhood. I grew up in the neighborhood, used to ride my bike all over the place. It was just a fantastic time growing up,” Planey said.
Though nearing retirement now, Planey said he could not pass up the opportunity to return.
“I wasn’t ready to hang up my cleats yet. I was ready to get back in the game and to help the school out in any way I could,” he said
When district leaders offered Greer the principal position, they also revealed a surprise: they hoped to bring Planey back to serve as her assistant principal.
“I will always remember when I was meeting with Superintendent Branham,” Greer said. “She offered me the position at Liberty Junior High, and she said, ‘We’d like to bring Doug Planey back to be your assistant principal.’ And there were so many thoughts going on through my mind, and I said, ‘You do realize he was my seventh-grade math teacher, right?'”
The timing seemed almost destined, Greer said.
“It’s like it was meant to be,” she said. “Everybody knew this would be the perfect partnership for us to come together and be able to lead and serve this campus.”
For Planey, the connection goes beyond a former teacher reuniting with a student.
“Carrie was one of my students when I first started teaching in 1992,” he said. “She was one of those students that you never forgot. She was a hard worker.”
Principal Carrie Greer and assistant principal Doug Planey pose in front of the oldest display at Liberty Junior High School that has stood there for decades. Both remember seeing it when they were students at the school.
Their homecoming also comes at a historic moment for the school.
Richardson ISD is building a new Liberty Junior High campus next door. The current building, which has served students for more than 50 years, is expected to be demolished after the transition to the new facility in the coming years.
For that reason, both educators say it feels especially meaningful to help guide the campus through its final chapter.
“I didn’t come back necessarily for the building,” Planey said. “But I’ve got two years to say goodbye.”
As they begin the school year together, Greer hopes their story sends a message to the students who now walk the same halls they once did.
“I want students to walk through this door every day excited because they are a Liberty Patriot,” she said. “Seeing us as the principals, they can see opportunity in the future. These people who walked the hallways are now back in the campus giving back.”