Teacher remembers sunny side of profession as she moves on
HARTINGTON — A long-time teacher at Hartington Cedar Catholic will be trading in her snow shovel for a sun hat.
Patti Bailey will be saying good-bye to her students, friends and her teaching career in the next few weeks as she resigns from teaching Junior High Math and Theology and moves to sunny Gold Canyon, Ariz., with her family.
“We plan to enjoy a slower pace of life than education allows,” she said. “We are going to enjoy jobs that only require eight hours a day with no homework.”
Bailey has taught in Cedar County Catholic schools since 1993, originally hired as a seventhand eighth-grade teacher in Menominee. That school closed and Bailey began to teach thirdand fourth-grade in Fordyce at West Catholic. In the fall of 2000, she transferred to Hartington Cedar Catholic to teach Math.
Bailey will be working as a pharmacy technician at a CVS Pharmacy in Arizona. Although she’ll be leaving her 29-year strong career, she will take with her many memories.
“I have so many fond memories of individuals, of classes, of staff bonding that it is tough to narrow it down (to a favorite),” Bailey said. “Most of anything, I cherish my relationships, my students who are now friends and the place that has taught me so much about being a better person.”
Her own spiritual growth is by far the most valuable thing gained by working as a teacher in Catholic schools.
“Words cannot express how thankful I am that God allowed me to have such an experience,” she said. “The faith of this community is stronger and deeper than any I have ever experienced. I will forever be grateful and indebted to the parents, students, faculty, friends and people who have supported me in my faith journey.”
Watching her students grow in their faith and mature before her own eyes was a unique experience.
“I can’t really take credit for any proud moments, it is all through the grace of God that I was able to teach and lead well and get to watch my students each succeed in their own individual ways,” she said. “Seeing my former students leading others to do good for their communities is great to witness.”