Nine teachers retire from Whitefish schools

Each has taught many hours in the classroom and worked with countless students. Combined they have more than 260 years in education and this year they’re all saying good-bye to the classroom.

A number of teachers are retiring from the Whitefish School District. They are Benilda Delgado, Ginny Baldwin, Tom Bertelsen, Jerrie Boksich, Patti Braunberger, Norma MacKenzie, Chris Ruffatto, Diane Torgerson and Carol Trieweiler.

Benilda Delgado

Benilda Delgado has spent 34 years in the fourth grade, well, teaching in that grade.

She has taught in Whitefish for 34 years and spent one year teaching sixth grade at St. Paschal’s in Spokane, Wash.

“My favorite part of teaching is seeing the growth the students make each year,” she said.

Like many teachers, Delgado became an educator because she loves children.

“When I was young we would always play school and I felt like I had a gift for entertaining young people,” she said. “I definitely will miss the students with the daily excitement and challenges they would bring to class, and, also, the wonderful people I work with.”

In retirement, she plans to enjoy family time, traveling, reading, and maybe take up bow hunting and fishing.

“Like the song says, ‘I’ve had the time of my life’ and I thank everyone for allowing me to touch so many young peoples’ lives,” she said.

Ginny Baldwin

Ginny Baldwin has spent 32 years teaching in Whitefish. She also taught for two years in Anchorage, Alaska, plus eight years in New London, Wis., along with 18 months as a substitute and Title 1 aide.

She spent three years teaching third grade, one year in second grade and 38 years in first grade, recently at Muldown Elementary.

“My favorite part of teaching is that each day there is something unexpected that is said or happens with your students,” she said. “I’ve loved seeing the dramatic growth of first graders who go from barely reading and writing to becoming able to read and write fluently.”

Baldwin says she’ll miss the interaction with students and colleagues.

“I’m concentrating on just enjoying the time I have left with my students and then a time to relax and explore my options,” she said “I’ve got a new 9-month-old granddaughter so I really want to spend time with her.”

“Whitefish has wonderful dedicated teachers and administrators,” she said. “We are very lucky to live in such a great place where we can raise our families and work.”

Tom Bertelsen

Tom Bertelsen’s first teaching job was in Queensland, Australia. He has since spent 37 years in education with 33 years of that time in Whitefish teaching grades nine through 12.

Bertelsen has taught grade nine English, grade 10 English, modern American literature, American heritage, world literature, Shakespeare, grammar and composition. He also taught English and physical education in Eureka.

He most recently taught 10th grade English, Shakespeare and world literature at the high school.

Bertelsen said his favorite part of teaching is working with James Welche’s “Fools Crow.” Set shortly after the Civil War, the novel tells of a young Blackfoot Indian on the verge of manhood just as his people’s way of life begins to change with the migration of whites to their land.

“Through the reading of this novel the students get a very clear picture of what it would have been like to have been one of the original people in the 1860s in Montana,” he said.

Bertelsen said he became an educator because he “wanted to touch the future every single day.”

“My favorite memory involves students who return and share how much their education at Whitefish has meant to their later successes in school and life,” he said. “I will miss getting to know the students and becoming part of their lives.”

His retirement plans include fishing, hunting, reading, exercise, travel, spending time at Ashley Lake, and volunteering more.

“I have been blessed to be a part of the Whitefish schools,” he said. “God placed me in Whitefish and I am so thankful.”

Jerrie Boksich

Jerrie Boksich has spent 40 years in education. She serves as art teacher in fourth grade, Title I Reading in fourth grade, and enrichment for kindergarten through sixth grade teaching language arts, math/science, French, leadership and arts.

“My favorite thing about teaching is seeing the light in children’s eyes when they finally understand how to do something or when they finally get it,” she said.

Boksich has taught first through fourth grades as a classroom teacher, fifth through eighth grades in Title I, and kindergarten through eighth grade enrichment classes, art classes, curriculum and assessment.

“I became a teacher because I love children and I wanted to help them grow as individuals,” she said. “Also I wanted to continue my own journey as lifelong learner because everyday teaching is an education.”

After retiring, Boksich plans to travel, spend time with her children and grandchildren and do some substitute teaching to get her “kid fix.”

“I will miss the smiles and hugs of the students and the camaraderie of my fine colleagues,” she said.

Boksich praises the Whitefish School District.

“The school district has been a wonderful, nurturing place to be a teacher and improve my craft,” she said. “Through the years, I have attended many conferences statewide and nationally. I am always proud of how well Whitefish measures up to districts all over the country. To all my colleagues and friends in education: Continue to grow, keeping up the high quality of education that Whitefish has become known for, where students are the most important thing!”

Patti Braunberger

Patti Braunberger attended a two-room prairie school in the third grade, which influenced her decision to become an educator.

“I loved my teacher Mrs. Hovies, who lived to be 103,” she said. “She was intelligent, kind, and a no-nonsense type of woman, yet she always kept us laughing about a one-eyed stray cat that lived in the belfry of our school. Mrs. Hovies inspired me to be a teacher.”

Braunberger is retiring after 36 years in the district. She has taught seventh grade English/literature, sixth and fifth grades.

“I like being an important ‘fraction of the whole’ in a student’s learning experience in K-12,” she said. “I will miss working with young people.”

To describe her plans for retirement Braunberger refers to the final strip of the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is pushing Hobbes down the hill on a sled and it reads “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy ... Let’s go exploring.”

“In the years ahead, that is just what I plan to do,” Braunberger said.

Norma MacKenzie

Norma MacKenzie has taught several grades and is often asked which age or grade she prefers.

She said her response has always been, “I love the students with whom I am currently working.”

MacKenzie currently teaches English 10, advanced grammar and composition, and AP English literature and composition in the high school. She has taught grades sixth through 12 including all of the English offerings in grades seven and up.

All 36 years of her career in education have been in Whitefish.

“Education keeps me mentally alive,” she said. “I feel lucky to get up every day and spend time with students. Teaching really is an act of optimism. I so enjoy my students, my colleagues and the challenges of planning for and teaching new material.”

MacKenzie describes herself as a lifelong learner who chose a profession where she could share her enthusiasm for learning with others.

“My soon to be 93-year-old father instilled in me the importance of participating in people’s lives: ‘If you don’t participate, life enrichment doesn’t happen,’” she said. “What better profession than education to participate in so many lives and share enthusiasm for becoming lifelong learners. My father is not a teacher by profession, but he teaches every day.”

Her plan for retirement is to embrace all the people and activities she loves and cares about.

“I will miss students the most — the great classroom discussions (especially third and fourth period digressions), students’ excitement to read or research something new, students’ honest heartfelt writing that makes me laugh, cry, question, and appreciate their risk taking; and challenging myself as a teacher,” she said.

Chris Ruffatto

Chris Ruffatto has spent 27 years in education and currently teaches ninth grade Earth science, and 10-12 grade power and energy technology.

He said his favorite part of the job has been teaching about natural resources, especially Project FREEFLOW.

Ruffatto said he became an educator “because so many adults share misconceptions about sustainability, carrying capacity, energy and the limitations to the development of natural resources. Students understand and learn much easier than narrow-minded adults.”

“The opportunity to enlighten young people to the fact that we live on a fragile planet with limited resources and that it is our only home. How much population can it stand?” he said. “I feel fortunate to have been able to teach subjects that I am passionate about for all these years.”

The Flathead Audubon honored Ruffatto earlier this year by giving him its Conservation Achievement Recognition award. The award recognizes Ruffatto’s contributions to conservation in combining long-term watershed monitoring with student mentoring.  

In 1995, Ruffatto and two other Flathead teachers became aware of a program in western Washington called “Adopt a Stream.” The goal was long-term monitoring of the physical, chemical and biological health of streams and rivers. Soon Project FREEFLOW was created in the Flathead.  

Ruffatto chose Haskill Creek as the WHS study site. For the past 16 years, close to 500 Whitefish students have been involved in monitoring this site, producing two publications and using data in local watershed resource planning.

Carol Trieweiler

Carol Trieweiler has taught at both the elementary and college level during her more than 30 years in education.

She began teaching in Whitefish in the 1970s before returning in the 1990s spending 17 years in the district.

Besides Whitefish, she has taught in Des Moines, Iowa; Bellevue, Wash., and at Carroll College in Helena.

She taught kindergarten through sixth grade. In Whitefish she taught second grade in the 70s and currently teaches fourth grade. At Carroll College in the Intensive Language Institute she taught advanced grammar, advanced writing, listening and speaking classes for international students from 11 different countries.

“I have been fortunate to work each day at a job that I love,” she said. “Every day I go to work and I know that I have a real sense of purpose and responsibility. I love the sense of accomplishment each day. With the opportunity to teach comes real and often difficult challenges. Even in Whitefish, there are sad cases of family dysfunction and social upheaval that many in our community do not see. A child who has to deal with those problems at home often has trouble focusing and giving the effort that is required in school. I have a soft spot for students who need more than just the required academics.”

Trieweiler said nothing means more to a teacher than to witness real progress in her class.

“For me, I value the progress academically as well as a student’s growth as a well-adjusted citizen of my classroom,” she said. “Lessons in respect have always been a primary focus for establishing a sense of community in my classroom. Once that is established, it is exciting to set high expectations for each student. I have worked with students from kindergarten through college. They are the memories of a lifetime in a classroom. I love school, always have.”

Trieweiler said she will miss having her own class and classroom.

“Muldown Elementary is a positive, friendly and challenging elementary school,” she said. “I will miss all that I learn from dealing with interesting kids. However, I will also miss the outstanding educators and support staff that we have in this school. I have shared some of life’s toughest battles with these co-teachers, who are also dear friends.”

Trieweiler plans to spend a month traveling in the fall.

“Hopefully, that will help ease the beginning of the school year for me,” she said. “I have plans to spend time in Italy with several other retiring/retired educators. Possibly more traveling to Mexico and California in the winter. Most importantly, I look forward to more leisurely time with my family, especially my three granddaughters.”

She said Whitefish is a wonderful community, an especially great place to raise children.

“Our student graduates are succeeding all over the world in an array of amazing professions,” she said. “I am grateful to the positive parents and community leaders who have supported our schools, our educators and especially our children. I have a continued interest in the education of my grandchildren, so I hope to remain involved at some level in the future.”

Diane Torgerson

Diane Torgerson spent her first year teaching first and second grade at Batavia School, a four-room country school.

“I was everything — from teacher, janitor, nurse to music and physical education teacher — you name it,” she recalled.

She has since spent 18 years at the high school and 25 years total in education. When her children were young, she worked part-time at Flathead Valley Community College in the business department teaching mostly accounting and computer classes.

Torgerson began teaching at WHS as a business teacher in 1994.

“My business education background originally trained me to teach shorthand, typing on typewriters, and bookkeeping — a far cry from all the technology today,” she said.

Today, as the business teacher she instructs 21st Century literacy, information technology essentials, graphic arts and legal procedures.

“I have loved connecting with the students, showing them I care and encouraging them to work towards their potential,” she said. “What I will miss most are the day to day interactions with the students.”  

Torgerson said she became an educator because she always admired her grandmother who was a teacher. “That she made a difference in so many kids’ lives,” she said.

Torgerson plans to spend more time with family and friends in retirement. She hopes to have more time for some of the activities she loves to do like hiking, biking and spending time at the lake.