SSCS longtime Kindergarten teacher John Walker says farewell to his final class before retiring June 30
If you or your child attended SSCS sometime during the last three decades your first encounter was most likely Mr. Walker and his Kindergarten classroom.
The tall, soft spoken, Peanuts character loving first stop on your way to a Spartans’ diploma has been a teacher here for the last 25 years. But come June 30, Mr. Walker will be retiring.
“Goof Grief!” Charlie Brown would surely say to him.
But true Spartans are more upbeat, as evidenced in a tribute video to the man released during his last Kindergarten graduation in June. In the video, young and old, one after another, lined up for a cameo to thank Mr. Walker for getting their school careers off to a solid start.
Oh, it wasn’t just the three R’s (the reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic) or the learning to tie one’s shoe that they will remember most about him. Rather, the general theme of the video that clearly stood out was how Mr. Walker taught these former 5-year-olds how to be respectful and caring boys and girls.
Did you know the Peanuts characters are Mr. Walker’s favorites? That’s why the Kindergarten classes staged two Charlie Brown plays during Morning Program this school year.
“To be a Spartan is to be part of a family,” said John Walker, as he reflected on his career as an early educator. “For a teacher, school is like your second home, and this will always be my second home.”
But the Sharon Springs classroom overlooking the school playground was not his first home. Many people may not know that Mr. Walker actually started his career teaching Kindergarten in Florida before moving to New York. He also taught first grade Science for a time there. And he didn’t want to be a teacher at all …he wanted to be a nurse.
“As I was studying nursing I just happened to take an elective course where I went into an elementary school to work with students,” he explained. “It was then that I changed my mind and I wanted to be a teacher.”
He remembered his elementary school teachers having a positive influence on him as a youth so he chose Early Childhood Education as his teaching major. And the rest is history.
What was Mr. Walker’s greatest accomplishment over his long career?
“Like any teacher, I think my greatest accomplishment was when I helped instill a love of learning in a child’s life,” he said. “Just recently, I was stopped at a convenience store by a man I didn’t know. He saw my ID badge and asked me if I was a teacher. I wasn’t sure where the conversation was going to go but he said he wanted to say thank you for what I do. He said that he had a teacher who didn’t give up on him and this was the reason that he became an avid reader.”
Over the years, Mr. Walker shared many favorite activities with his students and enjoyed reading, writing, story-time, and science the most. There were lots of memorable moments he will take with him.
“My days were anything but dull,” Mr. Walker said. “I think my most memorable moments are when a student really learns, you know, that bell goes off, he or she catches on and can apply what they’ve learned to something else.”
Mr. Walker offers this advice to his successor, Kindergarten teacher Anne Laier, who he lovingly refers to as “Ms. Frizzle.” The two partnered to teach Kindergarten this past school year.
“To Mrs. Laier I want to say thank you for an awesome year and keep getting ‘carried away.’ She is a wonderful teacher and I wish for her many more years in the best grade ever – Kindergarten!”
What are Mr. Walker’s plans in retirement?
“My wife and I have some traveling to do and I have lots of projects like gardening, books not read, a hammock to break in, etc.,” he said. “But, you know, you never really retire. Life is like a good story, you finish one chapter then you go onto the next. I believe that God has plans for me and I’m looking forward to experiencing that next chapter of life.”
On Friday, as his last Kindergarten class turned first graders breaks for the summer, Mr. Walker and others will be celebrated by his friends and colleagues at a retirement party at the Fancy Farmer restaurant appropriately within view of the school. As he moves on he will miss all of the children he has helped grow from Kindergarteners into SSCS graduates and adults.
“I will always miss the excitement and little faces in the morning as they come into the classroom to start a new day,” he said, “and the big people, too!”
We Spartans wish Mr. Walker well in his retirement. He will be missed.
