Retired teachers return to work with students

Joan Selner retired from the Bigfork School District more than 13 years ago, but she still shows up for school every weekday morning.

Selner is one of five retired teachers who have been re-hired by the school district part-time. These certified teachers service one of the school's Title I programs at Bigfork Elementary and Middle School to help students who need some extra academic assistance but don't qualify for special education. Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act grants funds to schools based on an area's poverty level to offer such programs.

These five teachers provide one-on-one and group tutoring in reading and math for half hour sessions each morning for roughly a third of what they used to make – as much as they are allowed to bring in to continue to draw on their retirement. Aside from pay, the teachers also continue to receive insurance benefits through the school.

"It allows them to supplement their retirement income and still do what they love," said Jackie Boshka, principal of Bigfork Elementary/Middle School. "It's been a very successful program for the teachers as well as the students."

Selner, who has been teaching for close to 50 years, was one of the original retired teachers in the program. She has a history of working in gifted and Title I programs as a reading specialist. She taught in Montana and Colorado and moved back to Bigfork in 1979. This re-hiring program gives teachers like Selner a chance to continue to teach and work with youth.

"Working with children is very rewarding," Selner said.

The middle and elementary schools have roughly 50 students these teachers, along with four aides, work with. Many other schools rely solely on aides or hire a full-time Title I teacher.

These part-time teachers give Bigfork students specialized attention in areas where they are struggling, allowing them to catch up with their peers.

"When you take them out of the class, they can experience success at their own speed," said Shirley Van Krevelen, who has been teaching for more than 40 years and retired and working with Title I students for about 10.

The program is collaborative, allowing for dialogue with classroom teachers about their needs. It also alleviates some of the stress off of those in the classroom so they can focus their energies on fewer students.

"I think the best part is for the regular classroom teacher," said Lyle Whiteman, another of the retired teachers in the program. "It gives more attention to students 'still in the classroom) who need extra assistance."

Whiteman and Sharon Hopkins are the most recently retired teachers working with the program – and they retired eight years ago. Whiteman taught for 33 years, including time spent in Brady and Havre, mostly in junior high math. Now he works with third through seventh graders in math through the Title I program.

For the teachers like Whiteman who came along a few years after the program started, working part-time just became part of the retirement plan. That's how it was for Sharon Schiltz who has been teaching for roughly 30 years, including a stint teaching kindergarten in Bigfork, and retired 10 years ago.

"It was sort of a plan for me to go from full-time teaching to a little part-time work," Schiltz said.

For these teachers who have been in education between 30 and 50 years, working part-time with the Title I program rather than having their own classrooms gives them a lighter load. It also keeps their work interesting, as they spend time with students from a variety of grade levels.

Working part-time also has its perks. The teachers get to avoid the downsides of classroom teaching like disciplining and attending meetings.

"You're not required to do a lot of preparation," Whiteman said.

These teachers emphasize that above all its the relationships they get to build with students and progress they get to witness through the Title 1 program that bring them back to school even a decade after retirement.

"You get to know them one-on-one," Van Krevelen said. "They become kind of dear to you."