A reception for 20 retiring professionals who have shown long-term dedication to students was held Tuesday at the Poplar Bluff R-1 Central Office.
Retirees gathered to chat with friends, current and former colleagues, and to discuss their upcoming plans for the next chapter of their lives.
Among the honorees were Kindergarten Center Principal Carol Brotman, High School Science Teacher Robert Curry and Middle School Art Teacher Deana Ward.
Brotman has worked a total of 11 years for Poplar Bluff. She said though she is leaving one career behind, she plans to pursue a new endeavor in managing her business, Nick's Corner Store.
Brotman said when she came back to Poplar Bluff as the Kindergarten Center principal, her job became a joy day in and day out. She said working with the youngsters is what she will miss most.
"When you're with kindergarten students, they hug you, they love you, and they're just so excited about learning," she said. "That is what has been the most fun to me."
Brotman said her desire to teach grew from a desire to coach volleyball. She said as an athlete, she appreciated all those who had poured into her and knew that as an adult she wanted to pour into others.
"As my career developed and I evolved into administration, I feel I've taken my same love for coaching into being an administrator," she said. "You really are coaching people and helping them achieve what they want to achieve and reach a common goal."
Curry's retirement from 14 years of teaching marks the end of a second career for the former military man who has visited every state in the country and every continent in the world, he said.
After school ends in May, Curry plans to balance time at home with traveling the country working with antiques, rocks and minerals.
Curry said he never planned to become a teacher and if someone would have told him years ago he would end up in the classroom, he said he would have laughed.
"I went back to school late, mostly because I wanted to get my degree in geology," Curry said. "Once they figured out I had a knack for helping people, I got involved in teaching."
Curry said if he offered advice to any new or experienced teacher, he said patience and not letting "every little thing bother you," is key.
Alternatively, Ward said she is a fourth generation teacher and knew teaching was her calling since childhood. Ward has worked at Poplar Bluff for 18 years.
"I never was going to be anything else," she said. "I still have notes from my great-grandmother from her one-room schoolhouse. It's all I ever wanted to do."
Ward said she plans to spend her retirement being a mother to her adoptive kindergarten-age daughter and is looking forward to becoming a resource in the foster community.
Ward said she will miss "hassling her administrators to do something new."
"As an art teacher, in a good way, a positive way, I'm always trying to push the envelope," she said.
Ward said she will miss the newness of every day and said the friendship of her colleagues helped motivate her through the years.
Also retiring in 2018 are Susan Brown; Gayla Fritts; Charles Harper; Charles Lee; and Debra McFadden, from PBHS; Kathy Beck, from Junior High; Peggy Badgley; Annette Frazier; Pamela Hamilton; Barbara King; Lois Graham; and Diana Pierce, from Middle School; Ruth Hutcheson, from the Technical Career Center; Lisa Robertson, from Kindergarten Center; Janet Cochran, from Special Services; Amos Ward, from Transportation; and Barbara Green, from Central Office.