During Monday’s meeting of the Board of School Trustees of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, retiring teachers, Marjorie Sanders and Pamela Smith, were honored for their many years of dedicated service to the children and families of Mentone Elementary School.

MARJORIE SANDERS – 4TH GRADE TEACHER – MENTONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Marjorie Sanders will retire after 40 years of teaching, all of which have been in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation.

She began teaching at Tippecanoe Valley in the Fall of 1974.  In the preceding spring a tornado touched down in the area, causing her first year of teaching to be at the Mentone Youth League with three other teachers new to the corporation – Marlene Nellans, Jane (Hizer) Burkett, and Sue Grossman.  She has taught first through fifth grades, with the majority of the time being spent in fourth grade.

Mrs. Sanders values the relationships developed with the students, parents, and staff of Mentone Elementary throughout the years as the most rewarding aspect of her teaching career. Those relationships are what she will miss most upon retiring from teaching.

Mrs. Sanders looks forward to traveling, volunteering, and most of all spending time with her family. 

PAMELA SMITH – THIRD GRADE TEACHER – MENTONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Pamela Smith completes a 37-year career in education.  After her first year as a kindergarten teacher at Bradie Shrum Elementary School in Salem, Indiana, Mrs. Smith moved to Tippecanoe Valley for the remaining 36 years of her career.  During that time she taught first grade for five years, second grade for eight years, fourth grade for one year, sixth grade language arts for one year, and third grade for 21 years.

One of the most rewarding aspects of Mrs. Smith’s career in teaching is that she has taught two generations of students, teaching the children of former students.  She loves to see how her former students have gone on to successful careers and accomplishments in their own lives.  She enjoys the sense of accomplishment when her students show great academic growth over the course of a school year.

What Mrs. Smith will miss most upon retiring from teaching will be the relationships with her coworkers.  She feels fortunate to have worked with a very close-knit group of people who are always willing to help each other.  “This hasn’t changed over the nearly 40 years I’ve been at Mentone.  I can truly say that I’ve worked with my best friends.”

Within the next couple of years she is looking forward to relocating to southern Indiana to be closer to her family.  Her parents, sisters, and their families and two of her own children live near Louisville, Kentucky.  She plans to give piano lessons and hopes to enjoy grandchildren someday.

“I can’t imagine a better place to have spent my career than in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation.  It is my hope that TVSC will continue to strive for excellence and provide the students in the surrounding communities with the best education possible.”