Evergreen teachers make transition at Evergreen
The final bell rang on more than a century and a half of teaching experience when Evergreen School District sent students home for the summer.
Seven teachers retired at the end of the school year and two others turned in late resignations, taking with them a collective 160.5 years of teaching:
. At Evergreen Junior High, Terry Fosbery, seventh- and eighth-grade history teacher, closed out 33 years; sixth-grade teacher Keith Regier finished 28 1/2 years.
. At East Evergreen Elementary, third-grade teachers Bette Clark and Kane Hines finished 27 and 26 years, respectively; fourth-grade teachers Judy Sander and Sherry Johns finished out 20 and eight years, respectively; Vicky Griswold, first-grade teacher, wrapped up her sixth year; and sisters Andrea and Janine Albert, second-grade teachers, resigned after six years each.
Superintendent Joel Voytoski paid tribute to the retirees' "substantial" experience.
"They've all been master teachers and committed to Evergreen for most of their careers. Is it a loss? Yes," Voytoski said. "We're sad to see them go and wish them well."
But it's all part of the cycle.
"Our goal always has been to hire the best people," not to bring in the lowest salary, he said.
"It's kind of an opportunity to bring in folks to continue what they have been doing and take it a step further. Sometimes change is good, it brings a new perspective."
The new teachers are bringing "a wide range of talent," Voytoski said. "I'm excited about the potential."
The district has hired eight teachers new to the district and brought back one teacher from a reduction-in-force cutback last year.
New junior high teachers are Pam Doty in seventh- and eighth-grade social studies and Cheryl Lanfear in sixth grade.
At the elementary, returning teacher Jessica Qunell will be assigned to third grade. New to the school will be Cliff Thoreson in fourth grade; Anne Marie Zorn in third; Melanie Baty, Rachel Brockway and Ashley Drake, all in second; Lisa Lake in first; and Kari Murdock as reading specialist.
This changing of the guard will mean new ripples in the lives of the teachers as well as the school.
. The first thing Sherry Johns (fourth grade) is looking forward to is "spending evenings and weekends with my husband," she said.
She's been in education for two full decades, and spent the last eight working Saturdays with teachers wanting to put the polish on their plans for the next week.
Letting her creative side bloom is her prime goal - in clogging, puppetry, choral singing and drumming, for starters. Herself an Evergreen schools alumna, she was instrumental in started extended-day kindergarten there.
. Vicky Griswold (first grade) is closing out a 27 1/2-year teaching career, spent mostly in Montana schools. She spent her first year here mentoring other Flathead Valley teachers, then was hired at Evergreen.
She brought the Early Steps individualized reading intervention program for first-graders to Evergreen. After she leaves, reading emphasis will morph to the Reading First program for which the school just received a federal grant.
Griswold plans to travel and do anything possible outdoors, from gardening to skiing to hiking.
. Kane Hines (third grade) spent her entire teaching career - spanning 27 years, with two of them teaching half-time - at Evergreen Elementary in every grade but kindergarten.
She was in on developing curriculum strands for the second and third grades, and played a key role in Montana Behavior Initiative and the Teach Two program.
"They are going to lose a lot of experience in teachers, the same as when we started," said Hines, who brought $2,000 to the school by winning the privately funded Unsung Hero Award for Montana.
Now, she said, "I want to make a difference in a new way." Part of that will mean being more available for her daughter and son, both Flathead High School students.
. Bette Clark (third grade) spent her first 16 years with Evergreen's Special Education program, then enjoyed the perspective over the last 11 years of seeing the full range of talents in "average" children, she said.
Gifted students, she said, present as much of a challenge as remedial students.
"I had been used to breaking things down to the simplest way to explain them, then had to figure out how to keep gifted children occupied productively," Clark said. In a typical third-grade room, where abilities can range from first-grade through fifth-grade levels, "you've got to make modifications on your own … differentiated instruction helps with offering strategies."
. Technology and science are
hallmarks of fourth-grade teacher Judy Sander's 27-year career, the last 20 in Evergreen.
She won the 1993 Presidential Award for Science Teaching in Montana, then the national equivalent in 1997-98. Tied to her initiation of the Hooked on Fishing program, the award recognized her ability to integrate school curriculum with community life.
"I always knew that hands-on teaching is the way to teach," she said, "and it has evolved as what we do. You learn from experience."
In retirement, she'll ski, snowshoe and camp in midweek, and spend more time working with Sunday school and praise band for Calvary Lutheran Church.
. Keith Regier spent his entire 28 1/2 years in Evergreen's sixth grade, digging in deep with the knowledge of their likes, dislikes and needs.
He also watched revolutionary changes in computer technology for virtually every aspect of education. He thrived on the breadth of teaching in his self-contained classroom.
"You see the development of the whole student in all the academic areas," Regier said. "You watch them grow physically, emotionally, academically and I enjoy watching them grow to adults."
He will work with his son in their Stillwater Sod Co., where he looks forward to setting a more flexible schedule. Someday, he said, he hopes to do some writing.
. Terry Fosbery (seventh and eighth history) returned to his hometown for his teaching career and got assigned to his dream job.
He was hired in 1972 by Bryan Swan, his own seventh-grade teacher and "the reason I went into teaching history, the reason I came back." Swan eventually became Fosbery's principal for 23 years.
"One of the key things I got from him was he gave me one of the best examples of how to develop a love of the 'story' in history," Fosbery said. With dates and analysis, a student "can get lost. But (the story) carries the interest."
He admitted he's a "one-trick pony" who's not above doing just about anything to catch student interest and make historical figures come alive.
Now, he's at the right point in the teacher retirement system and in his life for a career change. He retains a love of teaching, but plans to study for his real estate appraiser's certification.
"That will put me in the front edge to see the change in the valley (of which) I know the history," he said. "I'm ready to be a part of that."
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com