After 33 years, Schmidt retires

Posted on: Jul 22, 2020

A common consensus about the 2019-20 school year was that it lacked closure.

Annual rites like elementary track and field days, field trips and Spring Fling were swept away by a wave of pandemic fallout that continues to churn around schools as they prepare for the 2020-21 school year.

Obscured, perhaps, by the unusual circumstances surrounding the end of the school year was the departure of one of the district’s most experienced teachers. Second-grade instructor Linda Schmidt retired in June after 33 years with the district, the final three months of which came in an unfamiliar distance learning format.

“No one feels like we’ve had closure,” Schmidt said, adding that a year-end drive-through parade for students and families did help to an extent. “It just was an unexplainable ending. It is what it is. I can’t change it and we all had to deal with it in one way or another.”

The abrupt switch to distance learning was actually the second major interruption of the school year for Schmidt, who returned from a 12-week medical leave just two weeks before schools closed their doors and began distance learning in March.

“I had kept in touch with my kids every week (during my leave), wrote them letters and all of that,” Schmidt said. “I was able to reconnect with them in those two weeks, and luckily we did some fun things. We went to the senior center and had our music concert and the reading carnival. And then we had our spring break, and then we never came back.

“It just felt like I was in some kind of bizarre dream, like I was going to wake up and come back to school and my kids were going to be there. And it never happened. It was such a strange way to end my career, between being gone and then not getting to see my kids again. I’m so grateful for those two weeks that I was able to have to reconnect with them face to face and still be able to hug them. Had I not had those two weeks it would have really been a tough ending. I could never have imagined my last year would be like this.”

One silver lining was the strong, caring relationship Schmidt was able to establish with her students despite their fractured time together.

“This class was amazing. I’m so thankful that I ended my career with this super sweet group of kids,” Schmidt said.

Coming to Delano
Schmidt grew up in New Germany and graduated from Watertown-Mayer High School. She went on to St. Cloud State University for one year before transferring to Mankato to finish her undergraduate training as a teacher. Why did she pursue the profession?

“I always loved kids. It’s just something I always felt would be a good fit for me,” she said, adding that three of her sisters also went into education. “I really didn’t even think about any other career path.”

Getting started wasn’t easy, however. When she graduated from Mankato in 1982 jobs were scarce and she ended up teaching preschool five days a week between two part-time jobs in Rockford and Corcoran. The following year she kept one part-time preschool job but used her other days to substitute teach in a variety of school districts.

Schmidt’s break came when she did a full year of long-term substitute teaching in Delano in 1984-85, and in the fall of 1985 she was hired on full time as a second grade teacher.

“I was really hoping to get into Delano after subbing in different districts. There’s just something special about our faculty here,” said Schmidt. “I got lucky, really. Once I was here, there was no turning back.”

Appreciated by colleagues
Over the years Schmidt taught students in grades 1-3, and also did some special education work. Her co-workers appreciated her caring demeanor, her sense of fun that was particularly evident on dress-up days, her willingness to share expertise and try new things, and her focus on building strong relationships with her students.

“She dedicated herself wholeheartedly to her students and the staff at Delano Elementary,” said second-grade teacher Theressa Swan, adding that she frequently wrote cards or baked items to support her co-workers, loved attending student music concerts, and never missed an opportunity to make those around her laugh.

Fellow second-grade teacher Amanda Ward agreed.

“Linda has the biggest heart,” Ward said. “She goes above and beyond with everything she does for her students. She goes out of her way to reach every student’s needs. She builds strong relationships with her students, and she also knows how to have fun with her students.”

Second-grade teacher Julie Williams had a unique perspective on Schmidt’s work in the classroom, having shared a teaching position with her for six years from 1998-2004. During that time both teachers worked a half day, with Schmidt handling the morning hours before returning home to raise her own children.

“Linda is a hard worker. Her lessons were always well-prepared,” said Williams. “She has a passion for teaching and learning. She was never afraid to dress up, or use fun props in her lessons to engage and inspire her students.”

Williams added that Schmidt built a strong sense of community in her classroom, made it warm and inviting, and modeled a teaching style that was “soft spoken, calm, caring, patient, creative.”

Second-grade teacher Angie Kurth said Schmidt was careful to design her lessons and activities to ensure growth for each of her students.

“I will miss her witty sense of humor the most,” Kurth said. “She definitely has high expectations for those around her but she enjoys the laughter just as much! Anyone who knows her will remember the costumes she wore and the creative things that she did both in and out of the classroom.”

Second-grade teacher Lindsey Westphal worked just two years with Schmidt, but said she was a wonderful resource to her colleagues.

“I’ve gained so much knowledge as an educator from her. I am so thankful for getting the chance to work and learn from her,” said Westphal, adding that her helpfulness, humor, and caring demeanor toward students and staff were much appreciated.

“Linda will be greatly missed at DES,” Westphal said. “She is truly one of a kind!”

Highlights
Schmidt continued job sharing with others for a number of years, and said job sharing, though no longer practiced in Delano, was a great privilege.

“That was a highlight, being able to feel good about doing both things in my life ‒ being a mom and being a quality teacher at the same time,” she said.

As the years went by, Schmidt said she never had a desire to explore other school districts.

“I just loved the faculty here too much,” she said. “I never really thought about going anywhere else because I knew I wouldn’t find a better staff to work with.”

Above all, the daily interactions with children were the best part about being a teacher.

“Their innocence and their excitement and passion for learning every day, that is just the best part of teaching,” she said. “Seeing them laugh and smile and share jokes and connect with each other, that’s the part of teaching that you come to school every day for.”

Intermittent shifts from one grade level to another also served to keep teaching fresh, and Schmidt said one particular highlight was the year she followed a group of first-graders into second grade.

“I got to experience looping for one year,” she said. “That was a highlight, because after you have kids two years in a row you really get close to those kids.”

Ready to retire
While Schmidt said she isn’t ready to be done working altogether, she is looking to set aside the rigors of running a classroom.

“You have your vacations and you have your weekends, but I’m the kind of person who didn’t turn it off from the time you start school in the fall until you say goodbye to your kids,” she said. “It was always there for me 24/7. I was always trying to think of ways to do things differently, do things better, connect with kids in a better way and challenge them. So this is the way for me to disconnect, to just retire.”

Schmidt hasn’t ruled out returning to the district in a different role that does not include after-hours obligations, and will spend time this summer working at ShadowBrooke Golf Course in Lester Prairie, which she owns along with her husband. While she has always had summers to pursue hobbies like gardening and biking, she said she is looking forward to having more flexibility during the school months.

“I still love being with kids, so I do hope to come back in some capacity,” she said. “That would help bring some of that closure that we didn’t get in the spring.”
 

Post Categories: Elementary School