Sauk Prairie School District retirees, Part III

This article is the third in a series of interviews with Sauk Prairie School District retirees.  The next and last article to follow will focus on Connie Swantz, Anita Thayer, Cliff Thompson and information about retirees who were not available for interview: Ken Boettcher, Jean Giese, Therese Miskulin-Brethorst, Pamela Schramer, and Thomas Steward.   Estela Ohlrogge   Estela Ohlrogge was a Tower Rock Reading and Math Interventionist for eight years, serving 24 total years in education. Estela Ohlrogge’s Principal, Kelly Petroski shared this information, “About three years ago, Estela was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. She took a year off from teaching for treatments, then returned to Tower Rock with a clean bill of health. She had a wonderful year and a half of teaching after her treatments, enjoyed a trip to the Philippines with her husband to see extended family this past summer, and celebrated the wedding of her daughter. Her cancer returned very suddenly and very aggressively over the past few weeks and she passed. We lift up Estela and her family. We are grateful for every day we shared with her, learned from her, and laughed with her.”     Scott Schutt   Scott Schutt earned his bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and his master’s degree from UW Madison. He taught math at SPHS for 29 years and coached HS football, HS and MS girls’ basketball, and HS track. What he will remember about teaching: “Far and away the most memorable thing about my time at SPHS is the relationships with the students and athletes” and the most enjoyable part of being in education is “the daily interactions with the students”. A challenge of being in education is “Handling the paperwork that changes over the years but is always there”, Schutt said.  Schutt’s thoughts on teaching during the pandemic were “It was difficult to have three classes of seniors that I couldn’t see every day of their last trimester. High school students handle the technology pretty well, so the actual teaching of math was easier than knowing kids were missing out on some of those key memorable moments of HS.” “The greatest contribution I made for the Sauk Prairie School District is bringing the Crystal Apple award-winning Traci Schutt here, first as a student teacher, and then as a full-time teacher a couple years later” he remarked about his wife. Schutt was quick to point out, “I will still be living in the district watching all my former students become amazing adults.”    Diane Sullivan   Diane Sullivan earned her BA in English and her teacher certification at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, her MA in Humanities and Theater at the University of Houston- Clear Lake.  Sullivan is also a certified Tribes trainer and a Writing Workshop trainer. After teaching at Antioch Upper Grade School, Antioch, Illinois; Lake Jackson Intermediate School, Lake Jackson, Texas; North Crawford School District, Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin plus being Drama Director, Sullivan came to SPHS and taught 9th grade English and was Drama Director for five years and completed her educator career teaching 8th grade English and being Drama Director at SPMS for 15 years. What she will always remember about teaching in Sauk Prairie is “The feeling of community and support. I will remember that no matter what the situation, the district did whatever it could to keep working with teachers so that teachers were supported and knew that the district valued them. And, of course, I will remember the wonderful students I had the privilege to teach each year. Also, I will remember the incredible summer school program that actually paid me for doing short plays with kids of all ages!”  Sullivan’s most enjoyable part of working in education is “Seeing how students are becoming more aware of the world outside of themselves, watching them grow into thoughtful, humane young adults, seeing their eyes light up and their minds expand when they connect something they have read to their own lives, and showing students that words have power.”  Challenges of being in education include, “ACT 10, although our district did its best to minimize the damage. A big challenge has been changing curriculums often before having the time to master any of them. Another challenge is keeping kids of the media generation engaged and focused. It also seems as though there are more students every year who are suffering in one way or another. It breaks my heart.”  “Teaching during the pandemic has been very difficult for me. Most of my teaching is centered around student interaction, small group work, and conferencing with students. I haven’t found a way to successfully implement that into online teaching. Without the help of other staff members, I never would have progressed at all using Google Classroom. I intensely dislike reading and evaluating papers on a screen. I find it impersonal and not nearly as effective as being able to write on actual paper. I miss the students terribly.”  Sullivan is most proud of “hopefully, leading kids to be lifetime readers, writers, and thinkers who will be able to make positive changes in the world. And, I’m proud of the plays I’ve directed.”  Sending thanks, Sullivan emphasized, “A huge thank you to all the wonderful staff I have had the pleasure to know and work with these past 20 years.”  Robin Miller   Robin Miller was hired at the Sauk Prairie Middle School in September 1999 as a Special Ed Teaching Assistant. She has assisted students in all areas of academics and enrichment classes.   “Our community is so very fortunate to have a team of administrators and educators that have one thing in their hearts and minds: the students!” was Miller’s reply to the question of memories she will keep. She also replied that her favorite part of working in education is “helping the students accomplish their goals! That first day of school is still as exciting when you are 64!” A challenge has been, “Most of the kids are taller than I am!”  “What a way to end! I had foot surgery in January-back for about four weeks-and then school closed so quickly.  All those projects that you never could get to- now we could!” she responded about the pandemic. Miller was asked what she was most proud of and she said, “One of the many: coaching a student in music class. By the end of the school year, he stood with his peers, singing all the songs!” Complimenting her SPMS colleagues Miller emphasized, “Our whole staff deserves a standing ovation! “    ​Karen Peetz​   Starting work full time for Sauk Prairie Schools at Grand Avenue in October of 2007, Karen Peetz has served as a Special Education Teaching Assistant.  Explaining what she will remember, Peetz said, “Nothing makes you feel better than when you make a connection with a student, even if it is only for one day. To know that you have helped them understand something they are struggling with, makes it all worthwhile. When you work with students who can’t verbally communicate, a smile or a hug from them goes a long way and I like to think they appreciate the same from us.”   “One of the best parts of the job is the friends I have made, knowing that we wouldn’t have crossed paths otherwise. I’m not going to lie, another big plus was being able to be home when my own kids were home. I started working as a substitute when my youngest child started school; he is now 20 years old!”, she shared.  When asked about challenges of being in education, Peetz answered, “One of the biggest challenges is trying to stay positive when you’re having a bad day. Sometimes things happen in life that affect us but should not affect our work. When a student has a bad day, you don’t always know the reason why, but you try to be supportive.”  Reacting to the inquiry about the pandemic she shared, “I think the pandemic has challenged everyone to communicate remotely. There are so many ways to teach. As educators, we are all currently in the same boat. The nice thing about the internet is being able to share ideas with people across the globe. I do feel bad for the students. I think they need to be with their friends as much as they need school. Not seeing them has got to be hard.”  Summarizing her thoughts Peetz remarked, “I’m thankful I had the chance to work for the Sauk Prairie School District. I would like to think there is another person out there whose child is starting school and would like to have the same opportunity I had. I wish them the same success I had!”