By Crystal Hayduk
District retirees enjoyed cake and coffee at the June 8 school board meeting, when administrators recognized them and the school board thanked them for their years of service.
South Meadows Principal Stacie Battaglia acknowledged fourth grade teachers Karen Henry and Crystal Heydlauff, who have served the district for 26 and 25 years respectively. The two have been team teaching a double class since 1994.
“They are like a well-oiled machine,” said Battaglia. “They are two of the kindest, most organized people I know.”
Henry plans to spend her initial retirement years working part-time on a per diem basis training other teachers around the state and possibly the country in the Everyday Math 4 program, the same math program that Chelsea School District has used for many years. Henry said that the program will be updated to a higher tech version for third through sixth grade this fall.
“I am sad to leave the students and families of Chelsea, but also excited to pursue a different type of teaching,” said Henry.
Heydlauff expects to continue working with children of a younger age. She has been hired to work as a nanny, caring for the infant of one of her former students from earlier in her teaching career.
Beach Middle School Principal Nick Angel expressed his appreciation for media clerk Kathy Poplawski, who has been a multi-tasking team player with numerous responsibilities ranging from keeping track of library materials and technology to directly managing students who visit the media center.
Poplawski has worked in the district for 14 years, first in the preschool and then as a paraprofessional at Beach. However, she spent the majority of her time with the district as a media clerk. In her retirement, she plans to trade in her full-time duties for substitute teaching.
Maintenance coordinator Jared Bradley has retired after 21 years with the district. Ron Livengood, director of operations, said that Bradley, who began his district employment as a custodian at the [old building] high school, was an exemplary member of the staff.
“There was nothing he wasn’t willing to do,” said Livengood. “He orchestrated everything.”
Retiree Vicki Murdock has been a regular route bus driver since the fall of 2000. According to Jeff Knasiak, who shared his comments in writing because he was unable to attend the board meeting in person, Murdock regularly communicated with parents, not only about negative student behavior, but also about positive behaviors.
“Students always enjoyed Mrs. Murdock pointing out wildlife en route,” he said. “She also had books aboard her bus to keep students engaged in positive behavior during the route.”
Phyllis Wildey retired following 26 years with the district. She spent 14 years as a preschool teacher, followed by 12 years as a paraprofessional at North Creek Elementary School. Wildey was unable to attend the board meeting, but she released a written statement in which she shared plans to catch up on things that she hasn’t had time to do while working full-time, including traveling, reading, crafting, and volunteering.
“But mainly [spending] more time with my family and granddaughters who live on the west side of the state,” she said.
North Creek Principal Marcus Kaemming said Wildey is a person who cares about her students and their families, as well as the community at large.
“Mrs. Wildey works extremely hard and always goes the extra mile for her students,” he said. “She supports our building goals. She’s awesome.”
Wish Mrs. Heydlauff was still teaching and a 5th grade teacher 🙁