Farewell, Friends. And Thank You!

Not easily, that’s for sure.

 

That’s the task facing Collegiate, though, now that Beth Tracy, Susan Overton, Blair Chewning and Kathryn Oden are retiring from the Lower School when the 2016-17 term comes to a close.

 

Of course, others will move into their rooms, teach their classes and cover their duties. The school will move forward and flourish, just as every dynamic institution does when stalwarts take their leave.

 

But replacing the experience that comes from 124 years of committed service?

 

“You don’t replace it,” said Debbie Miller, Lower School head. “We will continue to grow the seeds that these colleagues have planted in our lives. Their tentacles have reached out all over the School. Because of them, we’re a different place. We’ll never have another Blair, Beth, Susan and Kathryn. We’ll miss them. They’ll always be a part of us.”

 

Beth Tracy, a Varina native, was a James Madison University senior and student teacher in Staunton when one of her pupils took a swing at her. Unnerved, she went home, called her father and reported that she was abandoning forever the idea of pursuing a career in education.

 

Don’t make an important decision when you’re emotional, her dad counseled. She didn’t, of course, one thing led to another, she landed a job teaching music at Collegiate and 38 years later, she’s still at it. During that time, she’s expertly and unflappably coordinated and overseen virtually every Lower School musical production, play and program. In fact, she’s made it all look easy.

 

“I had no idea if I’d stay 38 minutes,” she said. “I didn’t know the culture of Collegiate. I had to learn very quickly. I started loving what I was doing, and, incidentally, they were paying me to do it. It was never work. Everybody embraced what I was teaching. Everyone was professional. The children wanted to learn.”

 

Beth’s first music room was a rectangular cinderblock cubicle with absolutely no ambiance in old North Hall that doubled as a furnace room. She’ll leave modern, spacious quarters with plenty of natural light.

        

It isn’t facilities that she’ll miss.

 

“There’s a feeling of welcoming and a pursuit of excellence at Collegiate,” she said. “You’re with colleagues who do their best. I’ll definitely miss the people.”

 

Susan Overton grew up in Nottoway County and earned an undergraduate degree in elementary education from Longwood and a master’s in reading from Virginia Commonwealth University. She taught first grade at Pinchbeck Elementary in Henrico County for 11 years before beginning her 37-year tenure at Collegiate as, at various times, a 1st Grade teacher, reading resource teacher, tutor and librarian.

 

During her tenure, she’s traveled widely and shared with her students (and colleagues) facts, stories and reflections from her adventures from such far-reaching locales as Italy, Australia, Africa and the Galapagos Islands.

 

At heart, though, her mission has been clear.

 

“My whole career, no matter where I’ve been, I’ve been a reading teacher,” she said. “I love study strategies. I especially love the emerging reader. That light bulb goes on, and they can read. That’s the basis for everything. Children need to be in the right level of text. That helps them learn to read. I always knew that if a 1st Grader could read Frog and Toad and Little Bear fluently by middle of 1st Grade, they’d be OK. Those books were my benchmarks. Reading programs change all the time, but the basics don’t.”

 

For the first eight of her 32 years at Collegiate, Blair Chewning taught 2nd Grade. For the past 24, she’s been a mainstay on the 4th Grade team.

 

“For me,” she said, “Collegiate is all about the connections: the children, obviously, and their families and, of course, with colleagues. They’re connections that last. And I’ve always maintained that helping a child learn about his or her own character development is more important than any academic subject.”

 

Years ago, Blair (and colleague Beth Minor) were tasked with developing a “whole math” program.

 

“That’s how we landed at the University of Chicago and first started Everyday Math,” she explained. “Now, 28 years later, we’re still teaching that. People dubbed it ‘Chicago Math.’ It’s helping children problem solve and look at math in its real-world context and not just random pages in a book.”

 

Among a host of endeavors that she organized are the 2nd Grade States Fair and the 4th Grade Washington, D.C. trip.  

 

“(Lower School head librarian) Allison Williams said I seem as enthusiastic about teaching today as the day she met me,” Blair said. “I’ve always wanted to learn more about a given topic. You have to do that because the kids today are sharper than we are in many aspects.”

 

Throughout her career, Blair has served as a role model for students and colleagues, but never more so than when she served as primary caregiver for her husband John, who passed away in May 2013 following a period of declining health.

 

“Truly, Collegiate had a bigger part to play than they realized,” she said of those challenging, emotional times. “Collegiate kept me going, kept me grounded, gave me a sense of rhythm, a sense of things I could hold on to and control when I felt like so much of my life was out of my control. Being able to draw strength from these children and my colleagues got me through that.”

 

Kathryn Oden didn’t begin her career as a teacher. In fact, 27 years in education (19 at Collegiate, eight as a kindergarten assistant, 11 as a 1st Grade teacher) weren’t even part of her thinking.

 

She earned a biology degree from Mary Baldwin and worked first in retail, then as a phlebotomist at a plasma center and finally as a lab technician. Her first taste of education came with mothers morning out, then pre-school at Reveille Methodist Church, then five years at St. Catherine’s before arriving at North Mooreland Road.

 

“Teaching has become a calling,” she said. “I was very blessed to be guided this way. When I came to Collegiate, I was very struck by the respect and love that everybody showed for each other. I’ve always felt the safety of this place, especially on 9-11. Parents knew they could trust us to take care of their children. I appreciate the opportunities the school has afforded me and my children, the growth of my children, and my growth here. Collegiate has really nurtured all of us.”

         -- Weldon Bradshaw