After 31 years of teaching, math teacher Kathy Wilbers is ready to spend time with her grandchildren.
“31 years is, I think that’s enough. And I’m ready to travel. I’ve had cancer twice during COVID. And it was just kind of a hey, it’s about ready to travel and do some fun things and get to hang out with my grandkids before they enter school,” says Wilbers.
She took off some time in between years of teaching, and that’s when she found her job here at South.
“I stayed home with kids for about four or five years. And then when my kids were playing T-Ball, I happened to be coaching against one of the principals here. And he heard that I was a math teacher and said it was time to interview because they had an opening. So, I’ve been here ever since,” says Wilbers.
Wilbers, at the start of her career, decided to be a math teacher because of her family and her enjoyment of math.
“My dad was a teacher,” Wilbers says, “A whole bunch of people in my family are teachers. So, it was just natural. And I liked math. So that’s what I did.”
She is very excited to spend time with her family, but her most exciting aspect and her least exciting aspect of retirement go hand in hand.
“For 35 years, I’ve called myself a teacher. And now when people ask what I do, I’ll be like, huh, well, I’m retired. So, [I’m] most excited for not having a schedule, but I’m least excited for not having a schedule,” says Wilbers.
During her time teaching at South, Wilber’s favorite part was having her two sons and daughter at the school.
“Having my kids here with me. And all the all the kids that I’ve gotten to know and all the teachers I’ve gotten to know and that kind of stuff, but having my kids here was kind of cool,” says Wilbers.
Out of everything, the thing that Wilbers will miss most is the people here.
“[I’ll miss] the people. Kids, adults, everything. The people,” says Wilbers.
As she nears the last days here, Wilbers has noticed some changes to teaching.
“Kids are kids regardless,” Wilbers says, “but I started on chalkboards and mimeograph machines, where nothing was copied, nothing was visual, nothing was on the screen. I had to put everything [down] to now, everything is electronic and colorful. And there’s a lot more prep work at the beginning to keep kids engaged in what we’re doing.”
With these changes, Wilbers has some advice for new teachers.
“Teach kids first, subject second. They will learn and be passionate about your subject, they will feed off of your energy,” says Wilbers.
As she is about ready to leave, Wilbers says she feels weird to be going.
“I know I’ll miss the kids. I’ll miss my colleagues. I’ll miss being here and being a Jaguar, but I’m excited to go do something different,” says Wilbers.
