Published: May 20, 2009 01:32 pm      

Connie Kemple to retire after teaching at Green Valley Elementary School in New Albany for more than 40 years

Class dismissed

Connie Kemple talked excitedly as she fetched a copy of a picture of the staff at Green Valley Elementary School from her first year teaching in January 1969.

The 62-year-old — who is retiring at the end of this school year — pulled the picture out of its protective folder, revealing the handful of teachers from that semester, with herself standing in the second row wearing a pastel suit with a skirt down to her knees and her brown hair done perfectly with a flip.

The times as well as her style have changed.

Her once brown hair is gray and the flip is gone. It’s a bit shorter and she enjoys that she can wear pants to work now — something that wasn’t allowed when she started teaching.

She said she couldn’t imagine then being able to wear pants or that she’d still be in the same school preparing to retire 401⁄2 years later.

“Back then, I looked at the veteran teachers and thought, ‘Oh, I’ll never make it that long,’” Kemple said with a chuckle as she examined the photograph. “To me, this is kind of surreal. It really goes fast.”

During her years, she’s taught more than 1,000 students, she said. She even remembers most by name and almost all by face, but hopes to not be tested.

“I don’t know [how I remember them],” Kemple said, smiling. “It’s a teacher thing.”

After spending all those years getting up early, preparing lesson plans, grading papers and more, Kemple is looking forward to breaking out the books — none of which are on education, she added. She said she hopes to catch up on leisure reading, walking as well as sleeping in and staying up late.

“I am so ready,” Kemple said with a short pause between each word for added effect.

Kemple said she could have retired seven years ago — a fact that had many of her colleagues asking her why she chose to stay.

“I thought about coloring my hair so they’d quit asking me,” she said with a chuckle. “I just said, ‘I’m enjoying it and I’m not ready.’”

But now is the time.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the kids to keep going when I didn’t have the energy anymore,” she said.

But looking back, Kemple said she has many good memories and no bad ones.

Though as much as she’s taught, she’s learned some, too. She’s had to keep up with technology changes, including the introduction of computers in the classroom, as well as culture shifts.

“I learned that not every child had the same upbringing as I had,” Kemple said, adding that many are dealing tough issues at home. “You have to realize that and you have to give them that extra support, because they may not be getting all that they need [at home].”

She’s not done helping those and other children just yet. Kemple predicts that she’ll miss it all after taking about a year to herself.

“After that, I might come back to volunteer,” she said, smiling at the prospect.

To help bid her farewell, the school is throwing a going-away party Wednesday that’s open to everyone.

“She will be greatly missed,” said Cindy Nance, a school clerk who had two children in Kemple’s classes over the years.

“She’s definitely a fixture at Green Valley,” said Pam Duncan, school secretary, who has known Kemple for about 25 years. “It will be strange not to have her here after all these years.”



SO YOU KNOW

• WHAT: Retirement party for Connie Kemple

• WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday

• WHERE: Green Valley Elementary School

• DETAILS: Former students, fellow employees and the public are invited to bid Kemple farewell after teaching at Green Valley for more than 40 years.



ABOUT CONNIE KEMPLE

• Maiden name is Blankenship

• Started teaching in January 1969

• Graduated from Indiana University with her bachelor’s degree in education

• Went on to get her master’s degree at Indiana University Southeast as well as her Plus 30 certification there

• Has two children

• Taught in the same school, Green Valley Elementary, for 401⁄2 years

• Has taught more than 1,000 students during her time