KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – At the young age of 22, Nancy Schwegler began her teaching career in 1984 at La Plata Elementary School. She taught there for two years.
After that, Mrs. Schwegler went on to teach in Highland, Kansas, for 19 years, and she has been educating young minds at Kirksville Primary School for the past 20 years.
Now, after 41 years committed to helping shape the youth, she has decided it is time to hang up her teaching badge.
“I never thought I would want to retire, but I’m 64 and I feel like I have prayed a lot about it and I feel like it’s time,” said 1st grade teacher Nancy Schwegler. “Just kind of see what god might have in store for me and I may get tired more easy sometimes so I think it’s probably time for me to stop.”
This school year will be Mrs. Schwegler’s last and retirement may sound like a great thing to many but for her, leaving the classroom was not an easy decision.
“It was difficult because it’s who I am,” Schwegler continued. “It’s my life and being a teacher means everything to me, and I’ve loved every second of it.”
Mrs. Schwegler hopes to have left a positive impact on her students once she is no longer teaching.
“I want them to remember that I cared about them,” Schwegler said. “That I loved them and I wanted them to learn and that I was fun.”
When she began, there were no computers or cellphones in classrooms.
Mrs. Schwegler said this allowed her to give full focus to her students.
When speaking to younger teachers or those looking to get into the industry, she feels that’s a key component to connecting with the youth.
“If I could encourage the young teachers,” Schwegler added. “It would be to give your kids your total attention and focus on them and don’t let the data or the technology keep you from having time for them.”
Mrs. Schwegler said she’s cherishing every day of school as the end of her teaching days are only a few months away.