CHRONICLES OF BUSEY - Woodward Academy

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PAGE 8 CHRONICLES OF BUSEY MAY 20, 2007 I have been more than blessed in my twenty-five year partnership with the Busey School. I’ve worn many different hats while at Busey – mom, parent club officer, art teacher, After School Care Director, and pre-kindergarten and kindergarten paraprofessional. Year in and year out, one thing has remained constant, the loving family atmosphere that has made Busey what it is to all of us. Unless you have been a Busey parent, teacher, or a “Busey Baby,” as our students are affectionately known, you most likely can’t understand when one of us says, “We are a part of something unique and special – the Busey Family.” How does a school campus resemble a close-knit family? The answer is simple; we nurture each other. Of course, teachers nurture students, but at Busey you will find faculty members who have been a part of a family’s life from the first day of pre-kindergarten until the final days of sixth grade. That is eight years, hundreds of hugs, thousands of kind and encourag- When I first came to Busey, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I still think of Busey that way. It is a little piece of heaven, and will always be in my heart. Pat Rodgers ing words, and a few tears shed as our Busey Babies move on to the “Big World” of the Middle School. My twenty-five years of Busey memories are so rich and rewarding that I believe they will be enough, because I couldn’t have asked for more. Thankfully, our students have always felt the pull back home and have come by to visit us often. Although they will be visiting their teachers in a new building sixteen miles from Riverdale, they will find the same family members that loved and nurtured them from the start. Faith Black I began my teaching experience at Busey in the fall of 1993 and continued teaching fulltime at Woodward until 2003. Those nine years at Busey were undoubtedly the best years of my 43 years in the classroom. The friendships among the faculty and the incredible students I taught during that time will never be forgotten. I shall always be indebted to Sandra Oliver for giving me the opportunity to teach at Busey and Ed Notestine for creating an atmosphere that allowed me to continue to grow professionally. I taught Anita Phillips in the SDU class on Georgia History the summer before Andy Phillips arrived as the new principal of Busey. I had met Andy on the 6th grade trips to Rock Eagle, but I never had the chance to talk to him professionally. I knew that if he was married to Anita, he had to be someone special. From the beginning, Andy was more like my son than just my principal! I discovered that our thoughts and ideals about teaching were right on target. He brought the faculty to a new level of professionalism and instilled in us a new joy of teaching at Busey. When Debbie Herzig became the assistant principal, I felt God must really be looking after us. The two of them working together created my most memorable years at our school. I shall never forget the faculty meetings where we prayed together, laughed together, and cooperated with each other to make the school years run as smoothly as we could make them. Their doors were always open to discuss any personal or student problems that we had. I was never disappointed with the advice or solutions that they both shared with me. I was so very grateful to them for accepting my wife, Judy, as a professional member of the faculty and allowing her to work as a teacher/substitute. She had commented several times after she retired from teaching that she would not work in a school setting again. Then she met Andy and Debbie, and now she would be at the school everyday if they needed her! I am also grateful for the interest and friendship they have shown our son, Matt, as a member of the Woodward North Campus faculty. Since my retirement, I treasure even more the friendships I made at this school. So many of us have stayed at Busey, and I attribute it to the teaching atmosphere of this place. The love and friendship that I shared with my upper pod teachers cannot be replaced. Mrs. Beth Ann Zampol, Mrs. Vicki Musto, Mrs. Suzanne Woodruff, Miss Ansley Henkel, Mrs. Pat Rodgers, Mrs. Nicole St. Amand, and Mr. David Rogie will forever be in my thoughts and prayers. The “new” group that I have worked with since retirement has been just as much a joy to work with as well. Mrs. Sherry Gary, Mrs. Kim Mulkey, and Mr. Jason Montague have been a fantastic addition to the upper pod group. I am still in amazement to watch our administration teach right along with the teaching staff. I have been privileged to teach some Georgia History for Mr. Phillips and do some reading classes for Mrs. Herzig. I have also had I'll always remember riding my beloved tricycle up and down the halls at Busey with the wind rushing through my hair as I pedaled faster and faster! I loved the way the bell sounded as I rang it over and over again. I will never forget Mrs. Herzig running down the hall on that wonderful day yelling, "Stop It!, Stop It! Mr. McCollum is in the Computer Lab!" Angie Kimbell 1st Grade, 2002-2006 For me, Busey was a haven. It was where my best friends could be found, where the sweetest children grew and flourished, where happy children giggled as golden leaves fell to the ground, where “every” child felt special and earned a part in the play, where shy children grew and became accomplished speakers, and where teachers were not only colleagues, but true friends. My fondest memory will always be sitting in the bleachers as a shy, little girl with blond curls walked up the steps on the big red stage to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Little did I know that this was only the beginning of the many special memories that my daughter Marybeth would experience at Busey. Beth Wade Busey Faculty 1996-2005 some fantastic experiences substituting for Mrs. Lundell and Miss Berry, as well as for the upper pod teachers. How could I ever forget the wonderful times we shared in our cafeteria/gym? The plays, dances, and food we shared were all unforgettable. My special times with “Miss Charlie-Lou” were ones that I could write a book about. I will always be indebted to her for the hundreds of times she came to my rescue with pots and pans I needed for a class project, or ingredients I needed that I had forgotten at home. I also will remember the extra weight she helped me gain with her wonderful pound cakes she made for the faculty! I know one of the truly memorable times at Busey will always be the SDU class I conducted to Savannah. Most of the class was made up of Busey teachers. Our experiences from laughter to fright, from eating to doing a night walk on the beach, and from our projects to singing at Ebenezer, will always bring back pleasant memories. Trips with our students to Rock Eagle, Williamsburg, Ramah Darom, the state capitol, the monastery, the High Museum, Fine Arts Center, and Emory will never be forgotten. I learned as much as they did! My visits to the lower pod classes to tell stories or share Native American lore were always highlights. I will always treasure those moments when a child would crawl up on my lap while I told the tales. The Christmas parties at the Alumni House and at the Massengale’s home were truly a time to celebrate and get to know each other in another light! I will miss them. I still feel badly about keeping the ornament Faith Black made and hoped she would win it back. Each Christmas season when I put it on our tree, I think of her. The last SACS evaluation meeting that I attended at Busey was the best. It was then that I heard a statement that sums up my love for this place. The statement said, “…Busey is the jewel in Woodward’s crown!” I will always feel that and am really saddened that it will cease to be. Ted Key 1993 - 2003
MAY 20, 2007 CHRONICLES OF BUSEY PAGE 9 MRS. BARBARA RAUK: Touching Lives With Gifts of Humor and Love “Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back.” Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie Shawn Evans Mitchell For the students on the receiving end of Mrs. Barbara Rauk’s instruction, each day brings with it something totally unique. That’s because this favorite teacher on the Busey Campus always goes out of her way to transform the classroom into an experience of a lifetime by creatively encouraging the parade of second graders who march through her doors. Whether it is a “trip” to the North Pole via her “Polar Express,” with heavy coats and hot chocolate, or a “voyage” to the bottom of the ocean through the intricate designs of the students’ dioramas, Mrs. Rauk’s eclectic classroom serves as the platform for creativity and enthusiastic learning. Her world truly becomes her stage, and each student has ample opportunities to shine under his or her own spotlight. From her “Scruffy” journals that each child creates—that involve taking the beloved plush pooch home for two nights before exchanging it with a fellow classmate—to the infamous “Mad Minutes” math skills, the chocolate-loving instructor Shawn Evans Mitchell The parking lot is relatively empty on this particular late afternoon, as only a few cars belonging to the After-School Care staff sit idle. The sun begins to set upon the open field, and silence wraps itself around the beloved Busey Campus, preparing its rest for yet another active day that awaits. Inside the main building facility, workers busy themselves— mopping the floors and readying the classrooms for the early morning hustle that begins when children race through the gymnasium doors. Those who arrive at the top of the 8 o’clock hour, or even minutes before, are greeted by someone who has been there already for two hours. Someone, who on the evening of this interview just before 6 p.m., is still not ready to go home and rest, for her work is not yet complete. Inside the L-shaped kitchen that clearly belongs to this person, she meticulously separates what appears to be miles of dough for the homemade biscuits she will serve the next day for lunch. She is Ms. Charlie Austin, who has dedicated 38 years of her life to Woodward Academy and who will retire at the close of this academic year. “Ms. Charlie,” as she is known to all, students alike, says she decided with the closing of this campus that “this was a good time to move on.” “I started here [Woodward Academy] when I was 20 years old. This is the only job I’ve ever been on this long,” she says. “I came to the Busey Campus in 1996, right after the Olympics. From the top of my head to the tip of my toes, it was such a good feeling when I stepped on this campus.” Never married and without children of her own, Ms. certainly leaves an indelible mark on her mentees. “Mrs. Rauk is the only teacher that both my sister and I had simultaneously in our elementary education,” recalls Busey piano teacher, Ms. Lauren Roberts. “As twins, we were always separated, but my parents knew what they were doing by seeing to it that we both had Mrs. Rauk.” Thus, it goes without saying that this year is especially sentimental with both the closing of the campus and the retirement of everyone’s beloved teacher, who decided this is the year she will slip away from her classroom after almost three decades. With the exception of a one-year leave to have her daughter Kellie, Mrs. Rauk has taught second grade consecutively except on the year of her arrival when she taught first grade for Mr. Bill Cobb, principal. “I started at Busey in 1979; that’s 28 years,” Mrs. Rauk said recently, while reminiscing over this very significant decision of her life. “I planned to retire [this year] anyway, but when it came about that the campus might be closing, I thought, ‘This may work out where we’re all going to be leaving at the same time.’” That initial thought served as a comfort to her until the reality hit that with everyone leaving at the same time, her intentions on dropping in to visit her “second home” would be a moot issue. “I live 10 minutes from here, but the idea of me just hopping in my car and buzzing over just isn’t going to happen now,” she said regretfully. Before joining the Busey family, Mrs. Rauk taught for nine years at a Catholic school, and it was during that time she had an opportunity to visit the Busey Campus. “When I came here for that visit, my first reaction was that this school is a teacher’s utopia! I’ll never forget it. For one thing, the size of the classes [very small student to teacher ration] and the way they divided the classes into reading groups, both appealed to me.” Reflecting on the many changes since her start, she recalled how “we only had one class per grade then, and we used to have portable walls with space all around us. We didn’t have closed-in classrooms, and there were no doors.” This format, Mrs. Rauk recalled, made it all more familial. “The noise or chatter from the other rooms was never a distraction. In fact, we would often chime in with the teacher next door,” she mused. When Mrs. Rauk began teaching, Mr. Lindell Polk was the principal, and Ms. Heather Berry’s (current third grade teacher) mother, Mrs. Joanne Berry, was the teacher for which Mrs. Rauk served as paraprofessional. “First grade was a lot of fun, so when I was asked to teach the next level, I thought, ‘What am I going to teach these second graders? They already know how to read!’” Fast forward 28 years later, and her lesson plans run the gamut. “It was never too difficult to get down on their level,” she quipped. “Humor, to me, is important. The CHARLIE AUSTIN Staff Dietician is Everyone’s Surrogate Mom Charlie counts the long list of students, faculty and staff as her family. “Whenever we break for a holiday, or when school lets out for the summer, I get so sad. I am so lonely without these children.” However, the closing of the campus prompted her to “soul search” and weigh her future, which, for now, includes simply “resting for a while.” Many will say that Ms. Charlie deserves a recess, considering she arrives each day to unlock the building at 6 a.m., makes the coffee for all, has early arrival duty with the children until the homeroom bell rings, and begins preparing the extensive menu. However, around 10:30, someone from the Academy’s Food Services staff arrives to assist in the set up of lunch. “Most of the food, I cook,” she says from the kitchen with a smile. “I order all my bread, milk, ice cream—I always order more than enough to make sure everyone has enough! I leave the fruit out for the kids to eat after school.” Her long tenure at Woodward Academy has allowed her to shower hugs on the offspring of the former children that she embraced the same way, and in some cases, three generations have been served and loved by Ms. Charlie. “I don’t even want to think about it [leaving] right now; it’s killing me to hear the children say how much they are going to miss me.” After pouring the remaining pitchers of sweet tea in the sink and placing a phone call to order food items for future menus, the head dietician and surrogate mom to all is finally ready to leave. She moves her bright red compact vehicle from its selfreserved space at the kitchen door, and the last car to sit idle makes its way through the rod-iron gates. kids respond to it and to empathy. You have to have patience and humor.” During this, her final year at Busey, Mrs. Rauk said she has found herself “coming in much earlier than ever before, and leaving much later than I ever have.” “I don’t know if it has anything to do with it being the last year; I’m sure it does. And you know what? I think I’m still going to drive down here anyway and just make sure they are taking care of this place.” *Shawn Evans Mitchell is a Busey parent (mother to rising 5 th grader Maya Mitchell), and a professional journalist.
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