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NS English teacher Catherine Carney decided to retire after teaching English for 30 years.
As Carney decides to take a new direction with her life, students and teachers at NS are going to miss her personality, positivity, and wisdom.
“In all my interactions with her she was positive and a team player,” said Principal Christine Straatman. “She would jump in and get things done; she is a skilled educator.”
Carney wasn’t just an English teacher at NS, for some of the years she also was the advisor of yearbook and cheer. She was even heavily involved in the drama department for some time. She played a huge role in the school’s progression.
“Because Mrs. Carney did so much for our school we are going to have some areas we need to replace and we are already feeling that,” Straatman said.
She did so many things behind the scenes. She has been doing the school’s NC program and advisory courses.
Currently there are substitute teachers watching over her classes until they can find someone to fill the position. Kaylene Johnson has been helping with the lesson plans, so there is still quality and instruction taking place in the classroom.
“The position is posted right now, it is going to be a one-year only position, which means whoever we choose for that position will last until the end of the school year, then we will repost it for a permanent position,” Straatman said.
With all the recent changes in the classroom there has been some accommodations made for her classes. There will be multiple options for the students in their first quarter grade.
The first accommodation for the students is they will be able to turn in any assignments for the class until Oct. 9 without any penalties. The next option students will receive is they get to choose whether they would like their letter grade or a P(pass), which would not affect their GPA. This is only applicable if the letter grade is above 65 percent.
The final accomodation is a grade replacement option at the end of the second quarter. If the student’s second quarter grade is higher than their first quarter grade, they have the option to put that higher grade on the first quarter grade as well. This will not be available if the student did not pass the class.
Recently Carney has been thinking about what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She might go to another school and teach again or try something new. While making this decision she has been reading a lot and enjoying the break from teaching. Although there are things she misses already.
“It’s the family that you have here, whether it’s my coworkers, friends, or students,” Carney said.
She took the time to get to know people and she will miss being able to see the people she is closest to everyday. She always kept up on events throughout the school because she genuinely cared about the students and the school.
“Once a Hawk, always a Hawk,” Carney said.
Carney got her degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1991 for teaching English. She cares so much about literature and reading and she wanted to share that with the students.
Carney loved to give background knowledge to the things she taught and made sure the students knew the history and time periods of the text. She feels like it made it a lot more meaningful.
“She retains information better than anyone I’ve ever met. And details. She is really good with the details,” Johnson said.
Johnson is one of the people that Carney has made an impact on, for eight years their rooms have been next to each other so they’ve had each other to rely on. They were able to collaborate and make an impact on each other’s teaching.
Throughout her years of teaching Carney has learned a lot of lessons and looks at students with a different perspective.
“I’ve come to learn there is more to school than academics, which wasn’t where I was when I started,” Carney said.
Ultimately Carney will be missed by the school greatly especially her contagious laugh and storytelling abilities. Her impact will not be forgotten.
“I’m grateful for her service,” Straatman said. “She dedicated 30 years to this profession in helping serve and educate our youth. There are not very many careers that are more important than that. She didn’t do it for money, didn’t do it for fame, she did it because she loved her profession, teaching, and education.”
