Sauk Prairie School District retirees, Part 3

The last in the series of 2021 Sauk Prairie School District retirees features Bridges’ retirees John Haupt, Lorie Kessenich, Julie Kessenich, Darcy Wirebaugh and Andrea Gibson; Merrimac Community School’s Jody Ladsten and Tammy Leidig and Central Office retirees Cathy Stowers and Susan O’Neil.   John Haupt John Haupt received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology at UW-Stevens Point in 1978 and his Master’s of Science, specialization in School Psychology, from UW-LaCrosse in 1980. He started working as a school psychologist in Iowa in 1980. In 1990 he moved back to Wisconsin and joined Sauk Prairie Schools working at Black Hawk, Tower Rock, and Spruce Street Elementary schools. After working at Black Hawk and Tower Rock for 15 years, he then moved to Grand Avenue Elementary while continuing to serve at Spruce Street, which later became Bridges Elementary. During most of those years, Haupt was also assigned to Merrimac Community (Charter) School and served St. Aloysius Catholic School on an on-call basis. For the last four years, he reduced his schedule to three days per week, serving Bridges and Merrimac. John has worked in the Sauk Prairie Schools for 31 years and in education for 41 years. “Over the 30+ years I have spent here, Sauk Prairie gave me a chance to be versatile in my role as a school psychologist. I have assessed or worked with students from the age of three through twenty-one, consulted on more issues than I can count, helped design and implement the Kindergarten Orientation plan, taught parenting classes and gave inservices on ADHD. I even administered an IQ test to a student who would only talk to me from inside of a kitchen cabinet,” says Haupt. “But I had lots and lots of help. I have had hundreds of teachers, specialists, secretaries, paraprofessionals, custodians and administrators who have supported my role immensely, and it is the daily relationships with those colleagues that I will miss the most.” “What I will remember the most about education during the pandemic was the incredible job that the teachers had to do. In mid-March 2020 , they had to switch their educational focus, their strategies and their expectations over the course of just several days to teaching virtually, and to perform that way for the remaining two and a half months of the school year. This was done without a lot of practical guidance from either DPI or the District, because no one had ever done this before,” remarked Haupt. “When we returned to school in the fall of 2020, while not all of the (educational) pandemic issues were resolved, I felt that the District had anticipated and prepared us for the hybrid/virtual options offered to the families. However, this was once again an entirely new way to teach, and the staff adjusted, again, in a highly professional manner.” As for Haupt’s role, he said, “In all honesty, the stress on me during the pandemic was less than that experienced by our teaching staff. Reducing by half the number of students served at any one time significantly eased the stress on the children, and subsequently there were fewer `fires’ to be put out during the day. This allowed me to return to the more traditional expectations of my job.” As for what he is proud of during his time in Sauk Prairie he said, “I hope that I helped establish a cross over role for School Psychology in Sauk Prairie. I never wanted to be categorized as working in one area, but to be able to cross over the line between regular education and special education, between children and adults, between administration and staff. While helping students was always the focus, for every student on my caseload, I probably interacted with four or more adults. I always wanted to be someone that others could approach and feel comfortable with, whether that be for professional reasons or just to sit down and have a chat.”  Haupt’s retirement plans were summarized in this manner, “In the words of Aaron Rodgers… R – E – L – A – X.I don’t really have specific plans as of now, but I guess grocery shopping, dishes and dusting will be added to my list. Tracy (his wife) and I love to travel, so we are hoping for more of that in the next few years. We also love to cook, and I am planning to pursue a Masters in grilling and mixology!”   Lorie Kessenich Lorie was trained as an Orton Gillingham Reading Tutor in 1995 and began working with Sauk Prairie students privately that fall (along with their parents and teachers). From 1999-2003, she was trained as an adult basic instructor for MATC and helped to pilot the HSED/GED program for 16-year-old students and worked with 17-year-old students at Sauk Prairie High School. In 2005, she was hired directly by the district as a Reading teacher. Her training has included certifications in Elementary Education, Reading Teacher, Master’s in Reading Education and Reading Specialist. Her total of years in education is 40 with 16 of those in Sauk Prairie. As a traveling reading teacher for the district, Lorie has taught at Black Hawk School (2006-7), Spruce Street/Bridges (2006-2021), Grand Avenue (2005, 2011-12, 2018-21), Merrimac School (2007-09), and St. Aloysius (2009-10). Prior to being a Reading Teacher directly for the school district, she worked at SPHS as an MATC Teacher (1999-03). Kessenich’s memories of the district will include, “The wonderful teachers, the amazing students and a couple of outstanding administrators truly gifted in leadership, that have impacted me more than they will ever know.” “Teaching students that have struggled to read, learn to read. Learning to read changes their lives- their whole school experience, their confidence. It truly has been rewarding work,” Lorie says habe been the enjoyable parts of her job. Her thoughts on educating during the pandemic include, “I have learned how to be an effective reading teacher and tutor virtually and I am very thankful for this new skill set. I had to learn technology that was truly foreign to me. It was hard but I learned it and have found virtual teaching to work very well with 1-1 or small groups of students. When teaching language, it actually works better at times to teach virtually without masks than with masks- to see full faces. Having said that, I also learned (as the students did) to adapt to mask wearing and social distancing when working face to face with social distancing. I found the students were patient with me as I was with them- as we all made it work and learned together.” “I have given this job my all, working overloads when staff was cut… even though this required my lunch, prep, before school and after school hours due to high case load numbers. When staff was cut, I still gave students the fidelity of small groups etc. I extended my day to make this happen, but watching students learn to read and close their reading gaps through following fidelity and offering solid intervention was worth it. I am proud that I maintained dedication to students even when having to work overloads without compensation- which was 6 years of my 16 years at SP and that my students knew how much I cared for them and their success.” These are the reasons Kessenich is proud of her work. In retirement, Kessenich says, “I hope to continue part-time teaching students of all ages to read through private and sponsored tutoring opportunities for students. I hope to continue teaching a professional development course for teachers that I have enjoyed teaching for UW-LaCrosse since 2013. I plan on continuing serving in Children’s Ministries at GraceWay Church. I look forward to more time with family.”   Julie Kessenich   Julie Kessenich earned a Bachelors in Vocal Music Education from UW Stevens Point. She has taught music at Bridges Elementary for 5 years one day a week and served 11 years in education. When asked what will always remember about teaching/working in Sauk Prairie, she answered, “I had the most wonderful experience of being able to co-teach with my life-long friend, Jane Spillane. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my dear friend and roommate from college would end up in the same town as me and that we could teach together. She is such an excellent music teacher and working with her has been such a privilege, and so much fun.”  Her most enjoyable part of working in education? “I am absolutely passionate about music, and so I really felt the honor of sharing that love with the wonderful children in my classes. I truly hope that they will be lifelong music lovers and music learners.” “Being away from the children for the end of the 2020 school year was so difficult. I was so very thankful that we had face to face instruction in Sauk Prairie Schools this year. Even though we had many restrictions in place, being back together and making music was a great joy for me,” were Kessenich’s responses to teaching during the pandemic.  “When I began teaching here, it had been many years since I was in a classroom. I am proud of the fact that I was able to pick up where I left off and be successful. It has been an honor to be one of the first music teachers these children encounter as they are just getting started in school,” she replied to the question of what she is most proud of. “I am looking forward to long weekends of travel with my husband to visit our children and grandchildren in their various locations around the US,” are Kessenich’s retirement plans.   Other Bridges Retirees Darcy Wirebaugh, elementary teacher, with 22 years with the SPSD and 33 total in Wisconsin, and Andrea Gibson, teaching assistant, with 16.5 in the SPSD and 17 in Wisconsin, are two more retirees from Bridges Elementary.   Merrimac Community School Retirees Jody Ladsten, teaching assistant, with 18 years in Sauk Prairie and 21 total in Wisconsin and Tammy Leidig, teaching assistant, with 20 in the SPSD and Wisconsin are the two retirees from Merrimac Community School.   Central Office Retirees   Cathy Stower’s training for the position of administrative assistant for the curriculum department, included two years of undergrad studies at UW-LaCrosse with a focus on international studies which was preceded by years as a daughter of an Air Force lifer, which led her to living internationally in the Philippines and Mexico City, Mexico and many other locations in the U.S. She believes this gave her a sensitivity to other cultures, walks of life and a focus on serving all those that I would eventually come in contact with. Her position as Administrative Assistant to the Director of Curriculum was established in1993 and she was the first to serve in that position until September of 2020. Our offices were originally based at Grand Avenue working with Mary Boyd, the newly hired Director of Curriculum/Instruction, then moving location to the Middle School. Cynthia Odden then replaced Mary and they were located at SPMS and the old district office. Jeff Wright replaced Odden in 2012 at the old district office and from there relocated to the new District office. She then served the department with Chanda Kulow, previous principal of Bridges Elementary. “I cannot name one thing that I most remember as every day was new, memorable and exciting…every Director brought something new to bless my position…their creativity, their vision, their passion…sparked and inspired me, in ways that made my daily regime, unique and challenging. My position gave me the opportunity to interact with all staff…working behind the scenes was so rewarding,” she said. “My most enjoyable part has been working and supporting the staff. I truly am in awe of all they do, day in and day out with our amazing students and hope that I have helped make their calling a bit easier.” “As I look at my last eight months, as I retired in September, I believe I am most pleased that I found a balance in my career and family during those 26 years…there is nothing more important in my life than my relationship with God first, then family and career third…as when all is said and done, I will answer to Him first. I am honored to have served the Sauk Prairie Schools, staff, students and community. Thank you for allowing me to do so.” Plans for retirement? “Whatever I want, whenever I want and as long as it serves and aids others. Pure joy, is in the giving! I thank Sauk Prairie Schools for the opportunity to help and serve others.”   Susan O’Neil with 19 years of service to the SPSD, is the other Administrative Secretary retiring from the Central Office.   The Star News would like to thank Ellen Paul for her hard work on this yearly feature story.