Longtime South School Teacher Mary Reese Graduating From Second Grade

Mary Reese has been attending second grade at the since 1976, but on Thursday, the longtime teacher and assistant principal at the school will graduate, but she’s not moving on to third grade—she’s retiring after 38 years of teaching, all at the South.

Reese taught second grade for all but two years of her career (1973 and 1975), and has called Room 6 home for all but one of her years teaching at the school, her very first, when she was in Room 3.

Over this time, Reese said she has taught more than 760 students, nearly all of them in Room 6.

“It’s such a rewarding profession,” Reese said of teaching. “It’s so rewarding that you have made a difference in somebody’s life.”

For all the time Reese’s classes have spent in Room 6, some of the most memorable moments have come away from the classroom. Her classes have gone on field trips to the bank, the post office, the aquarium, the Science Museum, but one stands out most—the field trip to the beach.

Students traveled to Horseneck Beach, and in more recent years, Scussett Beach, as the culminating activity to the ocean unit.

Reese said these field trips show how “powerful a learning experience is.”

“You don’t remember the math page you did, but you remember the experiences,” she said.

Reese has also held many parent craft days over the years, where parents come in and help work on special projects with their children.

And then there’s “Very Special Me,” a project where her students make a large poster board about themselves, complete a timeline of their lives, and write both poetry and a narrative about themselves.

It’s a way at a young age for her students to “learn a lot about themselves,” she said.

Over the years, classroom memories have ranged from comical to inspirational.  

For a number of years, Reese had a class pet—actually two, guinea pigs Peanut Butter and Marshmallow. One weekend, Marshmallow died, and she didn’t have it in her to tell the kids, so she bought a replacement Marshmellow.

Peanut Butter lasted ten years, and when he died, her class buried him in the schoolyard.

In the mid 1990s, Reese had a student by the name of Brian McKenna.  His mom, well-known singer and songwriter Lori McKenna, was also a former student of Reese’s, back in 1976.

Brian’s class was working on a biography unit, and he chose to read about Ruby Bridges, known for being the first student to integrate the school system in the southern states, when she attended an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960 at the age of six.

Brian and his mom wrote a song about Bridges and sang it for the class.  A few years later, Lori McKenna and Ruby Bridges visited Reese’s classroom. Reese said it was an honor to meet Bridges and get her autograph.

In 1995, Reese received the Laura Warcup, Distinguished Educator Award from the Norfolk County Teacher's Association.

She was instrumental in organizing the 50th anniversary celebration for the South School in 2008-2009.

In addition to her 38 years teaching at the South, Reese attended the school as a child from grades three to six, and was a student-teacher there as well.

And while she has spent more than 40 years of her life in the building, she very nearly (and reluctantly) left the South early in her teaching career.

At the end of the 1973-1974 school year, she was almost transferred to the Chemung School (now Hansen) because only two first grade classes were needed the following year at the South. But, a second grade teacher went on maternity leave, and Reese stayed at the South, moving to second grade, and moving to Room 6.

Room 6 at the South just won’t be the same this upcoming fall. After 37 years, a new teacher will occupy this classroom located at the top of the steps of the school’s second and third grade wing.

As the school year draws to a close, the South has honored Reese, at both its Flag Day Festivities and at a PTO Ice Cream Social. 

“There comes a point in all of our lives when it’s up to us to make decisions about our future and our life,” Reese said at the Ice Cream Social. “The children move on each year, grade by grade as they move through elementary school to middle school and onto high school, and now it’s time for me to move on too.”

“For me this year, something inside told me it was the right time to do this,” she continued. “I’m truly excited about the adventures that await me. I’m anxious to find out what is outside the walls of the South Elementary School.  I don’t know where this path will lead, but I’m not afraid to travel it.”

She did say, however, that the South School will always be part of her life.

As for retirement, Reese said she will miss the “busyness” of the day, the non-stop activity from 7:30 a.m. until the end of school. She plans to paint, travel and explore—and maybe even learn to fly a plane, but come September, she’ll enjoy some time off.

“I haven’t had a fall off since I was six years old,” Reese said.

Thursday, look for a special column from Mary Reese sharing her memories of teaching at the South.