The joke in the English department at NRHEG over the years has been that, if the school ever had to cut a teacher, Deb Bently would face that ax, even though she is older than the rest of us. The rules of tenure in Minnesota state that it would be last hired, first fired, and Deb started a year after Mike Weber and I began; Nancy Rudau had been at NRHEG a few years before us.
I’ve loved the fact that our English department has been in place for so long, 26 years that all four of us have been here. But now we are cut in half. Mrs. Bently is retiring, and Mr. Weber is headed to teach in the new Owatonna High School.
It feels like I’ve been writing about departures from our district a lot in recent years, many of them due to retirement, but many more for other reasons. But this time stings. A lot.
Deb and I have worked closely together with union business for some time now. We have served together as negotiators, and I am grateful for how much I have learned from her. She has also been our union president, and our discussions have also helped me understand the rights of our teachers and how to help them, whatever comes their way.
Years back, when our middle school was in Ellendale, Deb taught a section of 8th grade English. We would collaborate often, even if we didn't teach all the same materials. I was looking for something to read with a strong female lead, and she suggested The Diary of Anne Frank; I’ve been teaching it ever since.
When I talk to kids about being able to identify their writing based on their style, I think of Deb. She has a distinctive writing style, filled with glorious words and fascinating fluency. You’ve seen some of her pieces in this very paper, and I know you’ll see even more now that she’s retiring from teaching. I realized how much I’ve been influenced by her recently. I was writing some contract language, and I realized I had used a phrase that was something I had seen in many of Deb’s emails over the years. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery!
Mike and I started at NRHEG together in 1996. He had a year of experience before coming here, but we quickly grew to be friends, along with many others who started that year. We both met fabulous alumni from this school with whom we fell in love, further entrenching us in the area. There were a lot of fun nights playing cards and hanging out when we were much younger, and there have been many great evenings out to eat with our wives.
Mike’s teaching style is one of guiding students to the end result. He’s open to new ways of looking at things in his classroom, as evidenced by Jayna’s group helping him shape some of his curriculum when we started our Honors program in English. I work hard to teach kids to recognize sarcasm so they better understand Mr. Weber’s sense of humor. I know which ones paid attention in middle school because they’ll stop by and talk about what a funny guy Mr. Weber is.
I have to remind myself that neither Deb nor Mike is moving away. I think Deb will still answer her cell phone when I inevitably call with a negotiating question. I’m sure I’ll see her around the paper, and she likely won’t completely fade from the theater department at NRHEG. Michelle and I will still get together with Mike and Mary to enjoy each other’s company and pontificate on life. Mike is just changing which direction he turns on the road each morning.
I thought Deb would be around at least another year. I knew Mike was thinking of leaving when he asked me to write a letter of recommendation, but I didn’t really consider that he might go. Now I have to focus on the talent we are losing from the English department.
I wrote in Mike’s recommendation that I would be devastated if another school lured him away. I’ve never written that before. But I meant it. Even though our classrooms were almost literally as far apart as they could be, any time we sat down to talk about what was happening in our classes was valuable. It was great to give him a preview of his incoming freshmen, and I valued both his and Deb’s feedback on anything that was lacking in what the new high schoolers came equipped with.
I have no idea how our English department will look in September. There will be a different vibe for sure. I have always told kids that if they had all four of us over the years, they would be prepared for any English professor in college. Deb, Mike, Nancy, and I all have different, yet effective styles of teaching. We’ll see what that looks like going forward. I know we have lost a lot of experience, which is nearly impossible to replace.
Change can be good. Deb will enjoy her well-earned retirement. Mike will enlighten minds in an exciting new environment. We’ll get to work with some eager new teachers in our building.
But I’m still devastated. And it will be difficult. My dedication to my craft has been hugely influenced by our two departing English teachers, and for that I am eternally grateful. Best of luck to both in their new adventures!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is one I found recently, which is a cool word and seems appropriate to use in a column about English teachers, especially because it comes from German, a language Deb used to also teach. This week’s word is sitzpinkler, which means a man who sits while urinating, as in, “The man turned into a sitzpinkler at night rather than turn the light on when he woke with an urgent need.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!