Laughter and tears were mixed as the Snowflake Unified School District said good-bye to five retiring teachers at the school board meeting on May 10. Superintendent Hollis Merrill said that these teachers represented about 145 years of teaching.
Among the teachers retiring were Highland Elementary School third grade teachers, Sheri Brown, with 39 years of teaching, and Lynn Smith, with 32 years of teaching; Snowflake Intermediate School fourth grade teacher Donna Porras, with 30 years of teaching and fifth grade teacher Kelly Mortensen, with 23 years of teaching; and Snowflake High School physical education teacher, Bruce Palmer, with 21 years of teaching.
Highland Elementary Principal Roy Owens said that while most of Brown’s teaching has been in the third grade she started her teaching career in home economics when she was 21 years old and even taught a survivor bachelor class. “Her laugh will be missed,” said Owens.
While Smith was not able to attend the meeting, Owen said, “Lynn and I are the two roosters in the biggest hen house in the district and he will be missed. Lynn’s goal this year was to enjoy his last year of teaching and help the students have fun while learning.”
Snowflake Intermediate School Principal Kim Lewis thanked both Porras and Mortensen for their years of teaching. He said of Porras, “I go into her classroom and it is calm, quiet and peaceful. She is a great teacher and I hope whatever she does in the future makes her happy.”
Regarding Mortensen, Lewis said, “Kelly is a phenomenal teacher, she has an opposite style of teaching from Donna, but when she tells kids to do something, they do it because of their respect for her.”
Snowflake High School Principal Larry Titus said of Palmer, “Discipline in a PE class is different from the classroom. I appreciate all he has done. I always tell him, ‘old PE teachers never die, they just smell that way.’”
Special recognition was given to Copper State for their donation of $2,500 to be used for teacher appreciation, which included the recent Teacher Appreciation Dinner. Mark Goodman and Todd Peterson with Copper State were there to receive the recognition.
Kendal and Molli Bryant were also recognized for the many meals they provided for the athletic teams throughout the school year and for their help with the Teacher Appreciation Dinner.
