Once a teacher, always a teacher, as the saying goes.
Many teachers stay involved in education long after they leave the classroom. For instance, more than 850,000 educators belong to the National Retired Teachers Association, a chapter of the AARP. Most local teachers鈥� unions have active chapters for retirees, too.
And at Shorewood Senior Campus, a retirement community with independent and assisted living facilities in Rochester, Minn., there鈥檚 the Retired Teachers Club.
Chuck Nelson, 83, started the club two years ago when he realized that there were dozens of former educators living in the community. On his floor alone, he鈥檚 one of about 10 former educators.
Nelson, who taught math, career education, peer mentorship, and conflict resolution over the course of a 38-year career in St. Paul, Minn., put a notice in the community newsletter. About 20 teachers showed up to the first meeting. The group has met about once a month ever since.
鈥淧eople need to be involved in something,鈥� said Nelson, who retired in 1998. 鈥淚 thought, this is one way that people can be involved in something that鈥檚 of interest to them, and it also helps people to meet other people.鈥�
The main theme of the club: 鈥淭his is my story.鈥� At every other meeting, a member shares their backstory鈥攈ow they became a teacher, and who influenced them when they were young鈥攁nd some of their teaching experiences. The other members will ask questions, and then there鈥檚 usually time for socialization.
鈥淭here鈥檚 never a lull in conversation at a table,鈥� said Jen Koop, a member of the club. 鈥淲e always have something to share.鈥�
Other times, Nelson invites people who currently work in education to speak to the members, including teacher-educators, school resource officers, and school librarians.
鈥淚 very much like to keep up with education because it鈥檚 important to me,鈥� said Koop, 85, adding that she and her fellow retired teachers 鈥渘ever stop learning.鈥�
The superintendent of the Rochester, Minn., public schools even visited in December and spoke about to be more aligned with the 鈥渟cience of reading.鈥�
For Koop, who used to teach elementary special education in Rochester, it was welcome news. When she retired in the early 1990s, the district was phasing out explicit phonics instruction, she said, which she didn鈥檛 think was a good idea.
鈥淵ou have to be able to attack a word that you don鈥檛 know if there鈥檚 no one around to tell you the word,鈥� she said. The superintendent 鈥渢old us that ... phonics will be a part of [the new reading program]鈥擨 was pleased to hear that.鈥�
A connection with current students
But the closest peek the members of the Retired Teachers Club have inside classrooms today comes via the pen-pal exchange program.
For the past two years now, the retirees have written to and received letters from students in Sarah Coffing鈥檚 5th grade class at Folwell Elementary School in Rochester. The program has been a source of joy for both the retired educators and the students.
鈥淚n a day and age when these kids are so connected electronically, you would not believe how excited they get when it鈥檚 mail day,鈥� Coffing said.
There are more participating retired educators than there are students, so some retirees have multiple pen pals鈥擭elson has three. The retired educators write the first letter at the start of the school year, telling their pen pals about themselves and then asking questions: What are they reading? What do they like to do for fun?
鈥淭hey often have things in common that they didn鈥檛 even realize,鈥� Coffing said.
Nelson said he tells his pen pals to include a joke or a riddle in their letters, too. Coffing said the retirees will often share funny stories from their time as teachers鈥攆or example, one wrote about how her class pets once escaped from the classroom.
There was one learning curve: The educators realized they couldn鈥檛 write in their usual cursive because the students can鈥檛 read it.
鈥淧enmanship was a big deal鈥� for us, Nelson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for some of the teachers not to write in cursive.鈥�
And even now, with the retirees writing in print, 鈥淚 do a fair amount of translating,鈥� Coffing said. 鈥淗andwriting can be a difficult thing鈥擨 do have to make out words for [the kids].鈥�
She also monitors the students鈥� spelling and grammar in their letters. 鈥淲hen we are writing the letters, I feel this sense of duty to the profession,鈥� Coffing said with a laugh. 鈥淕uys, come on, we鈥檙e writing to teachers!鈥�
She said the program has been one of the best opportunities she鈥檚 had with her students in her more than 20 years in the classroom.
鈥淚 just see this sense of pride in the kids when they鈥檝e been able to sit down and share their lives in their own words and in their own writing with someone else,鈥� Coffing said.
At the end of the school year, Coffing takes her students to Shorewood Senior Campus to have a picnic with their pen pals.
鈥淲hen they all got to sit down together at a table, you couldn鈥檛 contain the smiles in the room,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really cool to have that connection with someone who was part of this educational world that [students] spend so much time in.鈥�
After last year鈥檚 picnic, Nelson wrote one last letter to that group of pen pals. In it, he wished them well as they prepared to head to middle school: 鈥淣ew friends, new learning experiences, new almost everything. (And it gets better every year of middle and high school.)鈥�
鈥淲e will think of you often,鈥� Nelson wrote. 鈥淚f you see us at the mall or around town, holler hi. Some of us can鈥檛 hear [too] well.鈥�
Why so many retired teachers stay involved
Teachers tend to retire at younger ages than other working professionals because their pension wealth spikes once they reach a certain age or length of service鈥攐ften in their 50s or 60s, after 25 or 30 years of service. Many often still have more to contribute.
Retired teachers who still want to work in some capacity often turn to substituting. In some states, retired teachers can return to the classroom and 鈥渄ouble dip鈥� by earning a paycheck on top of their pension鈥�a tactic state lawmakers have used to lessen teacher shortages.
Union membership doesn鈥檛 always end after retirement, either. The American Federation of Teachers says that it has nearly a quarter million retired members, and the National Education Association says it has more than 300,000 retired members.
Such chapters advocate for pension and health benefits. Bobbie Margo, a retired elementary school librarian and media specialist who now sits on the executive council of NEA-Retired, said it鈥檚 also an opportunity for retirees to maintain a sense of community.
鈥淭eachers still want to be connected,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are used to, and we want to continue to go to, meetings鈥攖o share ideas, to make a difference.鈥�
And teaching, she said, can become part of one鈥檚 identity, even after retirement. She often sees her former students around town, and they still call her Ms. Margo.
鈥淚 think that many teachers miss the routine of going to school,鈥� she said. 鈥淢any jobs are routine, but school is different. You are spending more time with people鈥檚 children than many parents, and you are raising those children in a way. You spend a lot of time with those kids.
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 all said and done,鈥� she said, 鈥淚 think many educators miss that.鈥�
