Thursday, May 29, 2008 10:23 PM CDT
Fleming leaves behind joys, challenges of teaching English
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — The relationships between students and teachers are almost symbiotic.
At least, that was the conclusion of retiring Mattoon High School teacher Joanne Fleming as she reflected on her career.
“We (as teachers) change as well,” she said. Students “have as much of an effect on us as we would like to on them.”
Now, the longtime MHS English teacher is opening a new chapter of her life. Fleming concludes a career in education that began in the bicentennial year of the United States — a career filled with many life-shaping moments.
Even during the most challenging of times as an educator, “I think you grow in those experiences,” Fleming said. “The joys of teaching far outweigh the sorrows.”
She graduated from Governors State University in University Park with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1974.
Her first job in education was overseas: In 1976, she joined a program for military personnel in Aschaffenburg, Germany. “I happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Fleming said about her year in Germany.
After returning to the United States, she worked in the Stewardson-Strasburg school district in 1977 and 1978. She also served part-time at tutoring centers in Stew-Stras and the Cowden-Herrick school district in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Prior to her employment in the Mattoon district, Fleming spent three years teaching in an adult education program for veterans at Lake Land College.
She became a faculty member at MHS in 1985. Fleming also has taught GED preparation courses at the Mattoon Area Adult Education Center.
In addition to teaching English at MHS, Fleming ran the drama program for two years, and she conducted journalism classes while sponsoring the student newspaper for a couple of years.
Ken Reed, MHS principal, praised Fleming’s involvement “in our school improvement efforts through the Lumpkin Family Foundation, (which) has been important to the continued success of MHS,” he said.
Assistant Principal Michele Sinclair said Fleming was “highly organized and well-prepared for her classes every day. We hope she enjoys her retirement and we wish her the best.”
As is the case for many teachers, Fleming said her most rewarding experiences were witnessing “students grow and mature, and take responsibility for their work and their lives.”
In high school, she said, “We see it by the time they become seniors. We see that growth.”
Fleming added that it is gratifying when former students return as adults and tell her, “I understand why you were so picky — it has helped a lot.”
As she leaves the instruction of the English language to the next generation of educators, Fleming contemplated the ramifications of society’s movements deeper into the digital age.
“English teachers face a huge challenge just getting kids to write without putting (text message) abbreviations in their (papers),” Fleming said. “Formal writing is definitely suffering. It’s not a part of (students’) lives. The informal writing has kind of taken over.”
And books “are not a pastime” anymore, Fleming added. “We’re not readers.”
Fleming’s husband, Michael L. Fleming, is a teacher at the Treatment and Learning Center in Humboldt. They have two sons: Zachary, a youth minister in McPherson, Kan., and Adam, a student in Bangor, Maine.
Fleming said she wants to keep working even after her formal retirement from education, although she wants to try “something totally different” than teaching. She also hopes to do more gardening, cooking and traveling.
“It has been an honor to teach at Mattoon High School,” she said. “This has become my home.”
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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