Townsend Kindergarten Teacher Liz Wishman is Retiring
 | Author:
Matthew Nelson
MT43 News Correspondent |
Townsend Kindergarten Teacher Liz Wishman is Retiring Matthew Nelson On May 26th, Townsend Kindergarten teacher Liz Wishman will be retiring after 30 years of teaching. She grew up in Dutton and received her bachelor's degree from MSU and her Master's degree from Walden University. She started her teaching career in Geraldine, where she taught the Second Grade for 9 years and Sixth Grade for 1 year. She taught the Sixth Grade World History and Language Arts for 8 years in Townsend and has taught Kindergarten here for 12 years.
Coming to Townsend was a great opportunity for her, a bigger school, and there were more opportunities for their kids. She was a bit overwhelmed here. She taught 78 students during her first year of teaching the Sixth Grade here. She was pregnant at the time and in a new school. It was a lot. But it was lovely. They were good kids, they were fun. All the kids came through her classroom every day, where she taught Language Arts and World History. Teaching world history was fun for Liz. She wanted to make history fun and interesting and come to life for the students.
When asked if there were any teaching moments that were special to her, she replied, "I love seeing my former students' successes and take pride in knowing I was a small piece of it. It’s fun to see them grow up and see the positive things in their lives. It does my heart a lot of good, like getting wedding invitations from these kids and seeing these young people and how successful they are. One guy came back to see me after being in the military.”
Her husband Henry said, “You have 20-year-olds who give you compliments.”
Liz has thought about retiring for a while, especially after the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges of teaching the kids from home using computers and new technology. Liz doesn’t know what she will be doing once she does retire from teaching, but still wants to work full time. She has a lot of interests and skills and wants to figure out what’s available with her skills and interest level.
The difference in family dynamics has changed a lot over the last 30 years. When Liz first started teaching, all the kids had core families with mother and fathers (and brothers and sisters) home. Liz said, “Now the kids still lead lovely lives, but there are so many facets, such as the technology changes, and the ways cultures have shifted".
Liz is going to miss the relationships with her students and colleagues. She said, “It will be a challenge, but it will be beautiful too. I still love the kids; there are so many beautiful wild cards out there.” Liz has made great friends during her teaching career, and she truly loves the people she will leave behind.
Liz, Henry, and their two sons Jonah and Jeremiah are strong Christians.
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Image 1 Caption: Townsend Kindergarten Teacher Liz Wishman is retiring. Photo Credits: Matt Nelson
