Friday, May 11, 2018

Exeter-Milligan Update: Final Goodbyes and First Hellos


FINAL GOODBYES and FIRST HELLOS
By Paul Sheffield, Superintendent

As the end of the school year approaches, we will say goodbye to a few of our E-M family members.  Our first so long is to Judy Kassik. Due to health reasons, Judy was unable to continue in her role as kindergarten teacher. Nothing is more important in the education of a child than getting them off to a fabulous start.  Judy has done this at E-M for over a quarter of a century!  I will miss hearing her voice emanating from the kindergarten room and her excitement as she explained how she saw the brown breasted booby, a bird not normally found in NE (she was an AVID bird watcher). I even had to time my visits to the kindergarten room as she embraced “brain breaks” - physical activity breaks between learning sessions.  Some of those brain breaks were rather tiring. Enjoy your bird watching and quilting - you deserve it!
We also say so long to Haley Stutzman, our Spanish teacher.  Haley has accepted a position with Bertrand Public Schools. We wish her well with her new endeavor not only at Bertrand, but also with her new title of wife. I will admit I have been pretty relentless giving Haley a bad time about wanting to be with her future husband (he works for the NRD in Holdrege) instead of with us at E-M. I hope she realizes I only did this to help with my own transition to not having her here with us.  We will miss Haley and wish her nothing but the best!
On the flip side, we get to welcome some new E-M family members.  Lisa Ricenbaw will be our new Spanish teacher and Amanda (Larson) Pettygrove with be our new kindergarten teacher.  We are excited to add these two new teachers to the fold and hope everyone takes some time to welcome them to the Pack.
One other new, exciting venture for the 2018-19 school year is the addition of a part-time ag instructor. Friend and E-M have agreed to share an ag teacher/FFA advisor. Jesse Bower, a California native, will fill this position.  We are excited to have her as part of the E-M family and also look forward to having an ag program once again.
Our last fare-thee-well is to Dixie Krejci.  Even though Dixie has left us in body, she will definitely live on with us in spirit.  Not a day went by that Dixie didn’t have a smile on her face. She could ALWAYS find the positive spin on every situation - whether it was the student who was naughty in class, the student who forgot about sportsmanship at recess, or the student who was the noisiest at lunch. Her legacy will live on through all of us. Dixie - Because I knew you, I have been changed for good – until we meet again!

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