PAS bids farewell to long-time educators

The is the final of two parts. The first appeared in last week's July 7 Pipestone County Star.


 

 

Six long-time educators retired at the end of the 2015-16 school year. Four of those were profiled last week. This week, we bring you the final two.

Margie Fuerstenberg, 35 years
Margie Fuerstenberg, 59, began her teaching career as a home economics teacher 35 years ago in Welcome, Minn. and came to Pipestone 26 years ago.

“My mother was my role model,” Fuerstenberg said. “She was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse.”

Fuerstenberg said she grew up on a family farm and spent much of her time around the home. A career in home economics, or what would later be called family and consumer science (FACS), therefore seemed to her like the perfect fit.

“My family instilled those values of the home,” she said. “I credit my family for leading me into the teaching profession and into the family and consumer science profession.”

Since she came to Pipestone she said she’s worked with 16 principals and six superintendents. When she started teaching in Pipestone, the school was considering ending the home economics program. She was hired and was the only teacher in the program, just as she was in Welcome. Over the years, there have been as many as three home economics/FACS teachers in Pipestone, but when she taught her last class in June, she was again the only one.

“I say that I’ve come full circle,” she said.

During her career, she taught sixth through 12th grade, but she spent most of her time teaching high school students.

Fuerstenberg said her love of teaching and the students kept her teaching all these years. She said the students kept her young and gave her energy.

“They are fun,” she said. “You get to know them. You get to know their families. You see them probably more than you do your own family, so it’s kind of an extension of your family.”

One of the highlights of her career was seeing her students “light up” when they grasp the subject matter.

Like other retiring teachers, she said some of the most significant changes she witnessed during her career were technological, but in the FACS room it’s been different types of technology changes than in other classrooms. In the FACS room, the technology changes have meant new stoves and microwaves. Adapting to those changes has been challenging, but positive, she said.

She’s also seen technology turn the subject matter of FACS class into entertainment with cable channels about cooking, and home and gardening programs.

“When we look at the broader sense of the home, they have put that into television and that has been a wonderful change,” Fuerstenberg said.

A possible side effect of that change has been that more boys are taking FACS classes. When Fuerstenberg started her career, girls took home economics and boys took shop class. Girls never took shop and boys never took home economics.

Fuerstenberg said she decided to retire this year because she just knew it was time.

“Everybody always said, you will know, and I thought it was kind of silly, but you do,” she said.

Fuerstenberg has some post-retirement plans in the works, but nothing definite. Whatever it is, she said, it probably won’t require driving from Luverne where she lives with her husband Marv.

Her advice to younger teachers or future teachers is to “follow your heart. Your heart will lead you to the right place.”

“That’s what I did and it was so

 

 

enjoyable,” she said.

Marlys Viland, 28 years
Marlys Viland, 65, began her teaching career in Verdi in 1988 before coming to Pipestone in 1989 where she’s taught first, second and third grade.

Before teaching, she’d been working on the family farm with her husband and had done some volunteering at the elementary school her daughters attended in Appleton. When the couple decided to stop raising hogs , she decided to go beyond volunteering and make elementary education a career.

“I enjoyed being with the kids and seeing them learn,” Viland said.

She said the ever-changing nature of the education field with new curriculum and teaching styles and the challenges those changes brought kept the work interesting over the years. One of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of her career was seeing the children grow and learn. The most memorable moment was the year the school was named a Blue Ribbon School.

“We had worked so hard over the previous years to improve, so all students were being successful,” Viland said. “To reap that reward was probably the highlight of my teaching.”

Another highlight was working with her fellow teachers as a team and developing relationships with them.

“I’m going to miss that” Viland said. “You get to have some pretty close friends when you’ve worked together for so many years.”

One of the most challenging parts of her career was meeting the learning needs of each student.

“You have such a range of ability in your room,” Viland said. “Some have had lots of experiences and then you have some who haven’t had those opportunities. I think that makes a big difference in where they’re at with their learning.”

Viland said technology use has been the most significant change she’s observed during her nearly three-decade career. Technology use has increased more rapidly in recent years, she said, to the point where next year, each students will have their own iPad to use.

Viland decided to retire this year because she’s reached retirement age and keeping up with all those technology changes in the classroom has “been a lot to try to keep on top of.” She also has five grandchildren who she’d like to spend more time with and would like to do more traveling. She and her husband Daryl live just outside Pipestone, and are keeping their options open as far as the future.

To parents, she said the most important thing to do to prepare children for success in school is to read with them.

“Those early years of development are so important,” Viland said. “Getting them exposure and improving their vocabulary makes such a difference.”

Her advice to younger and future teachers is to expect the unexpected, be flexible and be accepting of all students.

“Every single one is different,” she said.

In her opinion, one of the most important things to teach young children is respect.

“If we can teach our kids when they come out of elementary school to be respectful, that’s a big thing,” she said.

“That’s a life-long skill that they’re going to need to know. And getting along with others. We’re not all the same and we don’t all learn at the same rate. Understanding of that among the students is important.”

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