So hard to say goodbye

Twenty-four years ago, I had no idea where Loyal was and then I got a phone call from Mr. Williams asking me to come here to interview for an English teacher position. I interviewed, received an offer for the job, signed my contract and planned a move all with three days left before school started. My two oldest children and I spent the first week of school staying in a room at Grandma’s Kitchen and one week later, my whole family on both sides pitched in and helped us move to a home in Spencer. That was the whirlwind that stared my career at Loyal.

The first three months of school went by so fast and luckily, I had some awesome veteran staff who looked out for me over the year. Mr. Larson, Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Bedwonic were like big brothers watching over me and helping with any question or concern that I had. I don’t know if I ever told them how much that support meant to me then and still means to me today, but they are the reason that I made it through that stressful year.

Over the years, the classes I taught changed from Applied Language for seventh and eighth graders and Yearbook for high schoolers, to teaching English to all the 10th and 12th graders. I loved seeing the growth of the students as they moved through the years. It was always so exciting to introduce learners to authors and playwrights like Shakespeare, Poe, Dante and Fitzgerald. The students and I struggled together through the process of researching and then writing persuasive papers, and even though there were some challenging days, it was so rewarding when graduates would come back and say “thank you” for the things that I had taught them. I do have one secret that I haven’t shared – I learned as much from them as they did from me. Every year a new class of students found a place in my heart and at the end of the year it was so hard to say goodbye, but so rewarding to see them “fly.”

Teaching was only part of my job at Loyal. I spent many years working with students as an advisor for a variety of activities. I will never forget when I was a class advisor and the prom theme was “An Evening in Paris.” It isn’t often that you see an Eiffel Tower in the middle of the gym. Working with football and basketball cheerleaders meant holding my breath when they tried new stunts, buying MANY cans of glitter hair spray, and hitting the play button over and over again as the team learned a new dance routine.

Then there were my two favorite extracurricular activities, one-act play and Forensics. I can honestly say that I never laughed so hard and I was so proud of the kids as they mastered skills and moved through the different levels of competiton. Coaching these activities also allowed me to create so many precious memories with my own children and their classmates.

A HUGE thank you to all of you! I would try to name everyone, but there have been so many over the last 24 years. Please know that you are all in my heart and thinking about our time together will continue to make me smile long after I have retired from teaching. One cool part about being here so long is that I now get to welcome children whose parents also had me for a teacher. It is fun to hear the parents say, “Mrs. Popp was my English teacher, and now she is your principal.” It feels good to know that they came back to Loyal because they liked what the district offered them, and they are confident it’s what their own children need today.

Over the years, I have also had the good fortune to work with so many wonderful people and I have built some valuable friendships too. It is weird to look back and try to pinpoint when I went from being the newbie to being a trusted veteran staff member. There are only a few staff members here today that were here when I started, but all these people have also left a mark on me, and I hope you all know that from teaching staff to support staff, I thank you all for helping me to grow as an educator.

Finally, I want to thank my husband and three children for all their support over the years. They moved with me to Loyal because they knew it was my dream to be a teacher. They supported me through all the changes that had to happen when I decided to get my first and then second master’s degrees. They didn’t complain about me going to Wausau for class every Wednesday night for two years or the family plans that were put on hold so I could get my assignments completed. Thank you all so much. I really couldn’t have done it without you.

As my time in Loyal comes to an end, thank you ALL for letting me be part of your world. I will miss so many of you, but I am also super excited to begin a new adventure with the Granton School District starting in July.

End-of-the-year activities Many of the classes end the year by taking their students on field trips. The kindergarten students have visited businesses around town so that they can learn about the jobs these people do, and the fourth and fifth graders visited local farms. Four-year-old kindergarten students will share what they have learned this year with their parents and grandparents during their graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 24. The last day of school for the K-5 students will be Friday, May 26. The teachers have planned activities with their classes for the morning and then the fire department will be here in the afternoon for water activities.

There will be two sessions of swimming lessons offered for Loyal students again this year. Session 1 starts June 5 and runs through June 16, and Session 2 starts June 19 and runs through June 30. Our summer school program will run three weeks this year, starting on Monday, June 12, and running through Friday, June 30.

I hope everyone has a great summer and thank you one last time for everything.