"Education
is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
William
Butler Yeats
We
recently honored 20 retiring faculty and staff members who represent nearly 360
years of combined service to the children of the Needham Public Schools. During
the retirement reception I read aloud from a 4th grader's journal in which the
student, Andy, acknowledges his principal's upcoming retirement and his
affection for her. I shared his note because it reflects what students feel
about their teachers and because it is so earnest, innocent, and loving:
I’m thankful for having a kind and helpful family
including my friends, teachers, my mom and dad, my pets, my favorite teacher
Mrs. Mukenbeck and my favorite and only principal I know, Mrs. Wilcox!!
But she is now too old
to be a principal so she is retiring this year.
Well hope you, Mrs.
Wilcox, still remember all of the Eliot school children.
But, sadly, I will still
remember Mrs. Wilcox.
Love,
Andy
Like
Andy, we won’t soon forget (or remember?!) our colleagues and friends who have
not just filled pails but who have lit many fires over all these years:
Amy
Cicala, Hillside
Bruce
Cohn, Needham High School
Barbara
Collins, Needham Public Schools
Donna
A. DeMaria, Hillside
Thomas
Dorney, Needham High School
Ann
Freeman, , Needham High School
Leslie
Hatton, Needham Public Schools
Michael
Higashi, Needham High School
Ingrid
Hoffman, Needham Public Schools
Laurie
Levin, Needham Public Schools
Jane
Lockhart, High Rock
Martha
Matlaw, Pollard Middle School
MaryLou
McCarthy, Needham Public Schools
Sharon
Pickering, Pollard Middle School
Robi
Richards, Broadmeadow
Sharon
Salzbank, Preschool
Jane
Streisfeld, Pollard Middle School
Judith
Torian, Mitchell
Martha
Wells, Broadmeadow
Suzanne
Wilcox, Eliot
Thanks
to our retirees for their deep commitment to the Needham Public Schools; thanks
to them for sharing their lives and believing in young people so that they, in
turn, can make our world a more beautiful, just, and peaceful place.