Retirement

I am down to the wire. In a few short days I will retire after 33 years of being a teacher. I think that I will always be a teacher, but after June 23rd I will not have to go to school anymore. Here are some remarks I made at our district retirement recognition reception last evening .....

So, a podium, a microphone, a captive audience and ….Sokoloski. Who thought THIS was a good idea? Celeste?

As you approach retirement, you know that this day and this particular time is coming.  Stories and memories of 33 years (15 at EASTCONN and 18 here in Mansfield) float to the surface of your brain. It is hard to sort through them all and and choose what to say.

There are stories of laughter and fun. There are stories of sadness and pain.  There are stories of how the events of the world shook our little schools to the core and stories of steely resolve to protect the lives we care for everyday. There are stories of enormous courage, faith and love, that demonstrate unfathomable  depths of compassion towards our students, each other and our community. And there, are stories of irascibility and stubbornness, when we were not at our best for our students nor for each other.

There are stories of when we reached high, worked incredibly hard, and touched excellence. When teaching became so perfect, it felt like you were dancing in the front of the classroom and every moment of a lesson you designed flowed from somewhere deep within you, and yet was somehow was also coming from beyond you. And you won awards and accolades and praise. And then, there were the train wreck lessons when chaos ruled the classroom. There are stories that are profane, and stories that are scatalogical, and stories that are both profane and scatalogical. There are stories that would keep a whole team of lawyers down at Shipman and Goodman untangling Title 9 issues  for years.

And then, there are a whole genre of stories that are so bat crap crazy that if you told them outside of this room, people’s jaws would drop and they never would believe you for a minute, no matter how hard you tried. But, if you told the same story here, people in this room would turn to each other, nod their heads and say, “Yup, just another day in paradise!”

So, I am not going to tell embarrassing stories about us. Not that you don’t deserve it, it just that I wouldn’t want leave out somebody who really deserved it. You are off the hook, except for three educators that I have to talk about.

The first is a Speech Pathologist, the Hermione Granger of the preschool division of the West Hartford Public Schools, my elder daughter Sarah, of whom I am so proud. The next is a Physical Education and Health teacher at Ellington Middle School, the hottest young softball coach of the Connecticut River Valley Middle School League, my incredibly talented younger daughter Katie. These two young ladies have brought two fine gentlemen into my life my sons-in-law Bryan and Nate who are working today. How great is that, son-in-laws at work while the girls get to party! They have fully grasped the concept of “marrying up” and have understood that the more they allow their father-in-law to beat them at golf the more often he will pay for their rounds.

The last educator is my retired Biology teacher wife, Marsha. Those that know me best, know that if I have been able to contribute anything to the Mansfield Public Schools, it is because this good woman has for most of these last 18 years put her cold feet into the small of my back when the alarm went off at 4:45 in the morning and pushed me out bed saying, “You are going to the gym today aren’t you?”  And then just as lovingly got up went into the kitchen and put together my lunch, and breakfast and to walk me out to the car reminding me to check for my wallet, phone, keys, and in recent years making sure I did not forget to gulp down a handful of drugs.

Would you join me in a round of applause as I tell my wife of 37 years, how much I love her and how much I am looking forward to the freedom and adventures retirement will bring?

I did want to say one word about Fred. I know we all are sad and mad and frustrated about whatever that was that went on.  I know I am. However,  for almost of of my time in Mansfield he was my boss. I always found him to be honest, fair, and a straight shooter. He held me accountable when I needed it, cut me slack when I deserved it  and offered me compassion in some tough times in my life. I could not leave without saying thanks to him.

For the rest of you guys, let me just say thank you for allowing me to grow and learn. I am better technically, intellectually and professionally for working with you. You have taught me to be more kind, more patient, and more understanding as a person. I leave as a better human being  for the time I had teaching with you all.

And to the community of Mansfield especially those here tonight who have or had children in our schools,  thank you for letting me hang out with your kids. It has been an honor and a privilege to teach them.