Brandon Twp.- For the first time since 1952, when she started kindergarten, Judy Thurston won’t be in a classroom this September.
After 40 years as an elementary school teacher, 39 of them in the Brandon School District, Thurston is retiring at the end of this school year.
‘I’m excited, but I’m not counting the days,? said Thurston, who has been teaching third and fourth grades on a loop at H.T. Burt Elementary for several years. ‘The first thing I’m going to do is absolutely nothing that I don’t want to do. Very few people teach for 40 years and are still sane.?
Thurston taught for one year in the Gobles Public Schools on the west side of the state before coming to Brandon in 1970 as a fifth grade teacher paid a $7,200 salary in her first year. Over the years, she has seen a gradual change in education. Teaching is less book-driven now, with decreased teaching of facts and more emphasis on ideas. It is more common now to have children study an entire culture rather than specific explorers, and educators are more directed by the state in what to teach.
Thurston used to be famous for building rainforests and igloos and deserts in her classroom, but it no longer fits the mandated curriculum, which is more test-driven. Expectations are higher, too, for students and teachers.
What hasn’t changed, for the most part, are the kids. While they may not have the same respect for teachers as they had in the past, they still want to do well and want Thurston to like them. She does.
‘I have a lot of fantastic kids and families,? she said. ‘I’ve learned more than I can name? compassion and patience, a lot of silly jokes. They’ve kept me young. It’s hard to be 60 and spend all day with a 10-year-old if you’re not young at heart at least.?
Thurston has saved all the notes, pictures and cards from students and parents over the years and she will take with her plenty of memories, such as the time when she was teaching a unit on the Civil War and talking about Abraham Lincoln. She recalls that she had just begun a sentence to the class with, ‘Mr. Lincoln said…? when the intercom interrupted her with, ‘Mrs. Thurston.?
‘One of the kids said, ‘I didn’t know you were that old,?? she remembers with a smile. ‘Everyone cracked up.?
Besides the funny memories, she will also have the breakthrough moments to take with her, such as the time her Czech student who spoke no English finally got a concept regarding opposites and his face lit up. She has enjoyed passing on a love of learning. What she hasn’t enjoyed is the paperwork.
‘I don’t know what I will do when I don’t spend time every night and on the weekends doing paperwork,? she said. ‘I don’t think many people know how hard teaching is? that it’s not a 9 to 4 job. For a good teacher, you are always on the lookout for the book or science lab or a rock on vacation that the kids will think is cool. You’re always thinking as a teacher.?
Thurston has maintained her senese of humor and is able to laugh at herself. She readily admits she makes mistakes. Sometimes, if she makes a particularly big blunder, she goes out in the hall and lets out a scream in a funny way to let her students know it’s OK to be wrong.
It’s also OK and even good for parents to have high expectations of their children, but she believes they need to be realistic.
‘Everybody isn’t Einstein, but they can give it their best shot,? Thurston said. ‘Support from home is crucial and parents need to know we’re all on the same side.
In her retirement Thurston, who is single and has no children ‘except the thousand or so? she has taught over the years, plan to tutor, volunteer, and travel.
‘I have a bucket list’I want to ride in a hot-air balloon, go to Australia,? says the 62-year-old, then laughs, ‘But if the stock market keeps going down, it’ll be a helium balloon and Frankenmuth.?
She is leaving her teaching career in Brandon with a lot of love, hugs, and personal pride in what she has done.
‘I’m not perfect, but I never gave less than my best,? she said. ‘It’s been a great run.?