Saratoga News

Education

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Retiring teachers Marty Connor (left) and Connie Clancy are in the final days of their last year in the classroom. Connor, a teacher for 40 years, has spent the last 38 years teaching first grade at Foothill Elementary School, and Clancy has taught kindergarten for 16 years at Argonaut.

Connor, Clancy are leaving the classroom

By Michele Tjin

They've spent decades teaching children to raise their hands, to read, write, spell and compute, and to work and play nicely with others.

Marty Connor and Connie Clancy have done it all, and after a combined 60 years of teaching, they are saying goodbye to lesson plans and looking retirement square in the face. When their students leave school this month, Connor and Clancy will be right behind them.

For 40 years, Connor has been standing in front of a classroom, and for 38 of those years she's been a fixture at Foothill Elementary School. First grade has been her niche.

"I don't think anything is more rewarding than first grade," she said. "In a year, students become readers and writers, and there is such growth."

After almost four decades, it would be hard not to acquire a penchant for certain classroom activities. Connor, 61, is known for teaching the life cycle of critters with real silkworms and encouraging her students to put on improvisational puppet shows. The classroom dinosaur play station, made by her husband out of paper-mache, has gotten a lot of use over the years, and she frequently lays out pillows and cushions for students to sit on.

"I think the classroom should be a comfortable place, like at home," she said.

Connor has seen trends come and go. Teaching methods that seem new and in vogue are really recycled ideas from the past. She's taught students when it was popular for them to sit at desks and when it wasn't; when they chose what to learn and when she guided the lessons; and when group work was in and when it wasn't.

"Teaching fluctuates," she said. "People are always trying to find a better way to do it."

One good thing about teaching such young children is that they keep her chuckling, Connor said. She had a good laugh recently when she was teaching her students to sing patriotic songs, as she does every spring. Trouble is, they don't really know what they're singing. They proclaimed America to be the sweet land of "liverty."

Others tease her about her singing. Boni Calder, a longtime Foothill teacher who retired in 2004 after 45 years of teaching, recalled what it was like teaching first grade alongside Connor.

"She can't sing at all," Calder said. "We just have a lot of fun. We'd be singing with the kids, and no one would be on key."

One of Connor's best attributes as a teacher is her ability to accept all of her students, Calder said.

"Her kids are very sure that she cares very much about them," Calder said.

Connor has a reputation of being an advocate for children and teachers. She has loved her time in Saratoga, she said, but with her 62nd birthday around the corner, it seemed like the right time to walk away. After all, she's been in school ever since she was 6 years old, her friend said.

"I didn't want to teach until [I didn't love it anymore]," Connor said. "I can still feel I'm on a high note. It would be terrible to go past that."

Just as Connor said she's had a good run teaching, so has Clancy enjoyed her time teaching kindergarten at Argonaut Elementary School for 16 years.

"I was delighted [to come to Saratoga]," Clancy said. "It's such a small family district. I got to know the community and other staff. It fulfilled what I was looking for."

A look at the artwork on her walls reveals that kindergarten is a busy year, and it's with good reason. With new state standards put in place four years ago, kindergarten is like the new first grade. Students are now being asked to read, write and do addition and subtraction to 10.

"Kindergarten is unique because you're their initial contact, and you need to make sure learning is fun," she said. "The trick is to balance new standards and the developmental stage they're in."

However, a day at the office for Clancy leaves her exhausted and beat.

"It's part of why I want to go away," she said.

Her husband, Anthony, is 11 years her senior and retired four years ago after almost 40 years of teaching at Redwood Middle School. The two have been able to share their personal and professional lives, Clancy said, but now it's time to spend more time with him. They will move to Sequim, Wash., a small agrarian community known for its lavender.

Clancy, who has never lived outside of the Bay Area, said she promised to try Washington for a year.

Other than that, she hasn't had time to think about her summer yet. There are the young author books her students are writing, which need immediate attention, as do other projects they're working on. Then there are the end-of-the-year festivities to plan as well. She jokingly called kindergarten life a circus. But she leaves Argonaut with fond memories.

"I'm very grateful to have been in this wonderful district with such supportive families," Clancy said. "I feel blessed."