Happy days of green and gold

After 37 and a half years in education, 30 of which were in Holyoke, Kimberlee Bennett is retiring at the end of this school year.

A 1979 graduate of Holyoke High School, Bennett graduated from Kearney State College in 1983 with a double major in elementary education and middle school education with emphasis in math and English.

After student teaching at the junior high and elementary schools in Minden, Nebraska, she was a substitute teacher in Kearney, Nebraska. Although she subbed at all levels in Kearney, she taught mostly junior high, which was her niche.

“It was a great experience,” she said, “confirming my desire to teach middle school.”

She completed long-term subbing jobs and was hired to teach the pre-kindergarten group at Rhyme and Reason Daycare and Preschool in Kearney.

She said this was a learning adventure, and she remembers creating many crafts with paper plates, macaroni and beans. Her group was called the Blue Bunch, but there were also other colorful group names like the Red Rovers, Yellow Yackers, Orange Ones and Green Group.

The following year she was hired at Father Benedict Justice School in the inner city of Kansas City, Missouri. She taught combined fifth and sixth grade for her homeroom and seventh and eighth grade for half the day. She taught math, language arts and religion.

The school closed after Bennett taught there for one year, and she was hired to teach seventh grade language arts, eighth grade math and an eighth grade advisory class in Grain Valley, Missouri.

She coached junior high and ninth grade volleyball, and she remembers with a laugh that she wore the opposing team’s colors the first two games. She said after that, the girls started to make a point of telling her what colors not to wear. After teaching there a year, she moved back to Holyoke.

She worked for a year in Champion, Nebraska, teaching fifth and sixth grade language arts, math and music. She put on the school’s Christmas program “This is Your Life,” named after the game show.

She coached junior high basketball, and she noted that this was the only time she experienced playing a basketball game on carpet when they played in the multipurpose room of a church.

Bennett said her memories of teaching in Champion include a bus driver who would joke about picking up roadkill for lunches since he was also one of the school cooks.

She also recalls that students were opposed to her throwing spilled salt over her shoulder and other superstitions. These students used to tell her how many times they walked under a ladder that was set up in the hallway.

“This was a close-knit community and wonderful staff,” Bennett said. “I probably would have taught there numerous years had my dream job not come open.”

Bennett lands dream job

Since she had already signed a contract in Champion, she initially almost didn’t apply for the job of teaching seventh and eighth grade math in Holyoke in the fall of 1990.

Jim Yakel and Jim Drescher encouraged her to apply. “I am thrilled it worked out the way it did because there was no other place I wanted to be than this great school,” she said.

In addition to teaching junior high math for almost 20 years, her career in Holyoke included teaching sixth grade language arts, third grade and fourth grade. She has also been assessment coordinator and curriculum director, athletic director and elementary math interventionist/Title I teacher.

“These positions have enabled me to grow as an educator and an individual, providing me with a well-rounded knowledge of our school system and its workings,” she said.  

She coached junior high basketball and sponsored the junior high cheerleaders, and she was an assistant high school volleyball coach. She said she thoroughly enjoyed keeping book for basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball, and she has also announced every sport over the years. She will finish her career teaching fourth grade reading, math and social studies.

“Math really is my passion,” Bennett said. “I feel fortunate to have gotten to teach math again to end my teaching career.” She noted that it was also a big thrill to be able to teach a group of gifted sixth graders pre-algebra.

There are many highlights in an expansive education career like Bennett’s. She said one of these was when she and her parents traveled to southwestern Colorado to tour as many state and national parks and monuments as they could.

“That’s been a blast sharing those photos with my students,” she said, “making Colorado board games with them and making products for our entrepreneur unit to sell in our fourth grade store.”

Another highlight includes rehashing the prior night’s ball games with her colleagues by the cafeteria doors in the morning.

She fondly remembers attending a middle school conference in Boulder with her fellow teachers and teaching junior high advisory classes. Their team of six led an Anasazi unit which was packed with hands-on learning that provided fun for teachers and students alike.

She pointed out that while she switched classrooms quite a few times in her final 12 years of teaching, nothing was more exciting than moving to the new junior high wing when it opened.

Bennett said, “It has been a thrill to teach in my hometown. I’ve worked with tremendous staff and students and have amazing memories. It’s been an honor to wear Holyoke Dragon green and be able to retire from the school I graduated from.”

She said she is appreciative of the teachers, secretaries, custodians, paraprofessionals, cooks, bus drivers, facilities and maintenance workers, coaches, administration and the board of education.

She added that her only regret is that she did not keep a journal of “all the fun, spectacular, heartfelt, collegial, really weird, unpredictable, challenging, educational and difficult times” that she was fortunate enough to experience. She noted that she’ll never forget her first seventh grade homeroom, which was the class of 1996. “They spoiled me with their drive and work ethic,” she said.  

Bennett said it is really rewarding to teach the children of former students, and she joked that she needs to retire now before she teaches the grandchildren of her first students.

Her philosophy on teaching is to teach like it was her first day every day and have that same level of enthusiasm and excitement in the classroom.

“I’ve always said I bleed green, and I look forward to that lifetime pass,” she said, pointing out that she will continue supporting the Dragons in all their programs and supporting and assisting the Holyoke School District in her retirement. She also plans to visit her parents, craft, volunteer and take a trip or two.

One of the things she will miss most is saying “Happy day!” to fifth and sixth graders as they walk down the hall by her classroom. These are students she had taught last year and the year before, and starting each day with the “Happy day!” greeting is something she shares with them.

Her former students who are even farther removed from Bennett’s classroom — no matter if that classroom was fourth, seventh, eighth or another grade — can also look back and fondly remember the many happy days they had in school when they had Kimberlee Bennett as a teacher.