Teacher “Miss Jeanie' to retire from Willow River Elementary

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She is perhaps one of the most revered teachers that has walked the hallowed halls of Willow River School. To witness “Miss Jeanie' interact with her students is an unwitting lesson in humility and mutual respect. Certainly, her kindness toward the youngsters is genuine, as is her doting response to their every need. “I always wanted the children to feel loved,' said first grade teacher Mary Jean “Jeanie' Mach.

While her love for the students is constant, Jeanie's enduring teaching style comes to an end in June when she retires, leaving a legacy of benevolence and devotion to the school that has been home to her for the past 33 years. “The timing is right for me to retire,' says Jeanie, 58, yet it is with a heavy and humble heart that she leaves the district. “If everything hadn't been so wonderful, it would be easier to retire,' she ponders.

She may be leaving her teaching post, but Jeanie's roots are well-grounded in Willow River. The second of ten children born to Maurice and Mary (DeRungs) Bennett, Jeanie says, “Growing up, my parents were my best friends.' Her dad was a carpenter, and her mom, now deceased, was an elementary teacher in Willow River, Rutledge, and Moose Lake. “I always wanted to be like my mom,' said Jeanie. “My mom was a big influence in my becoming a teacher.'

Miss Jeanie

After graduating Willow River High in 1969 Jeanie headed to the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth where she studied for a BA in Elementary Education and Library Science. Nearing graduation in 1973 Jeanie learned that local jobs in education were sparse, and her hopes for a teaching position looked bleak. “I sent out many applications, but no jobs were available,' she said.

To her benefit, one of Jeanie's professors had recommended her for a volunteer teaching post with a missionary group in Texas, Volunteers for Educational and Social Services. Although the position offered no salary, the two-year commitment would render her college loans deferred while she waited for the teaching market to expand.

Jeanie obliged and for the following few years she lived in a convent and gained experience teaching at Sacred Heart School in Uvalde,TX. The Teresian Sisters grew to appreciate her gentle and nurturing ways with children, and Jeanie was asked to remain after her commitment ended. She liked “hanging out with them' and for a while contemplated becoming a nun. Two of her aunts had been nuns, so the notion was not foreign to her. But Jeanie admits that her desire to get married and become a mother was more pressing.

While the school in Texas eventually offered her a paying job, Jeanie missed her family and wanted to be closer to Willow River. “I'm a homebody,' she said. Though difficult to leave the “loving' people of Texas, Jeanie returned to her roots in the summer of 1975.

At Willow River to stay

Something was waiting for Jeanie on her return to Willow River. Fate intervened one day when she was away from home and her dad was working in the yard. Neighbor and then district superintendent George Glum walked by the Bennett home and shouted to Maurice, “I hear Jeanie's home from Texas. Tell her to stop by the school. I may have a job for her.'

She answered the call to duty as a first grade teacher, and in the fall of 1975 Jeanie began her illustrious three-decade reign with the district. “It was an answer to a prayer,' said Jeanie.

She recalls the early days when a string of teachers were hired within the same time frame, and the group was told in jest, “You're all pulling into Willow River School like a train coming into town and moving out.' Over the years that analogy has become poignant for Jeanie, as her life has unfolded alongside her longtime coworkers. She says that several in the group “were single together, married together, had babies together, and are retiring close together.'

During the first few years she taught at the Sturgeon Lake School site, where the K-2 grades were then housed. The outpost moved to Willow River in the mid 1980s, and the standing elementary school addition followed. Jeanie has occupied the same classroom since the addition was completed, next to the room of elementary teacher and friend Audrey Gentry, who retired last year. “We had a lot of fun,' says Jeanie.

The epitome of a student's favorite teacher, Jeanie has “always loved going to school,' and her abundance of happiness is contagious. She figures she gains strength from her youthful students and reasons, “This job energizes you. The lively enthusiasm from the kids can't help but rub off on you.'

Memories revisited

Her room is filled with memorabilia from years of accrued instructional material and student accomplishments. With a reminiscent and teary look in her eyes, Jeanie points to various activities she has shared with her students. A pianist from her youth, Jeanie asserts, “I always loved getting ready for our annual Christmas and spring concerts.' She proudly shows an old video recording of the Little Red Hen mini musical that her classes would perform for parents every spring, and she talks of the backstage excitement as if it happened yesterday.

“Teaching has been a joy,' Jeanie humbly says. She is honored to have instructed two generations of students, noting that some have been from entire families — moms, dads, and their children. She would tell her students that if they ever need help or someone to talk with, “I'll always be here for you.' Jeanie is appreciative when former students return for visits and exclaims, “They still give me hugs.'

While she has a plethora of happy memories, Jeanie claims with sincerity, “The best memories are of all the people I've worked with.' It is likely, however, that her favorite memory dates back to 1977 when she met her husband Jim Mach, a 1971 Willow River graduate and later a janitor at the school before leaving for his current custodial position with Moose Lake School. Following a yearlong romance, the two married in June of 1978.

Jeanie managed to continue teaching in between and after the births of their six children, Abe, Maria, Moses, Jimmy, Rachael, and Matt. “I always felt I had two families — my family at school and my family at home,' said Jeanie. She is grateful to her mother-in-law, Stella Mach, for babysitting her brood so she could work. “She was a great help. I don't think I could have done it without her.'

After retirement

Jeanie realizes that the school year cycle has been her way of life since the age of six. And while she admits that it will take time adjusting to life away from the school schedule, Jeanie welcomes the opportunity to enjoy being a hands-on grandmother and an at-home mom to her younger children, and to fill her days with household chores.

Jeanie anticipates she will substitute teach at the school and remain involved in the community that she says, “has always been very supportive of Willow River School.' She appreciates the growing support over the years and is mindful of the community's role in the school's continued success.

Miss Jeanie may be retiring in June, but the palpable love and affection for her many students and fellow staff will linger in the halls of Willow River School long after she walks through the doors at year's end. “I even love the building,' admits Jeanie. “I have had a very happy life.'

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