Joanna is Retired!

And here's what her teacher friends had to say about that.

From Ann Gribble

Joanna you and I go way back. Our friendship started in Greenbriar where we would spend many hot summer afternoons over at the pool solving one problem after another. Our girls played softball together and were together at Greenbriar East, Rocky Run and then those final four years at Chantilly High. All those fabulous memories will be considered the "GOOD OLD DAYS" for me. As the kids grew older we saw less of each other until one you came to Jermantown and it was good to see a face from my past come back into my life. We were able to pick up right where we left off.

You always taught the BIG kids and I taught the LITTLE kids. You were usually upstairs and I was downstairs. When I think of you at Jermantown I remember how you never had time to eat your lunch. At the end of the day your lunch was on your desk and very little of it was still edible. One would think you might be rushing home after school for a snack but that was not the case. You were always there to help the custodians lock up the school. I thought I spent a lot of hours at Jermantown but I am sure in my 31 years of teaching I never put in the hours that you did. You would have to love what you were doing to put those hours in. I am sure there are many kids out there that -if not now-will at some time appreciate what you did for them. Be proud of the job that you have done !!!!

But now you are entering a part of your life that is even better.........RETIREMENT.......Retirement means:

---you are not tired ALL the time

---you get to finish your lunch everyday

---you can relax at a red light because you are no longer in a hurry

But the best part is that those three granddaughters will now have a full time grandmother to enjoy and spoil them.

Enjoy your retirement---My mom, who was a 4th grade teacher, always said she never met an unhappy retired teacher. I am sure that you would not want to prove her wrong.

Ann Gribble

From Mary Purdy

When Joanna came to Jermantown, she had so many fresh ideas to make learning come alive for the kids. My son Matthew was in 4th grade at the time, and I went to Lynne Pope and requested that he be placed in your mom's class for fifth grade. To this day he remembers it - more than anything, the "Westward Expansion" unit. Your mom will recall all the details of the project, but Matt's little family encampment on the "prairie" behind the school won "best set-up", or something. (Bob had taught Matt the night before how to set up posts and a rope to form the basis for their tent.) They arrived on the "prairie" after having crossed over the challenging "mountains" and gone through the gap -- otherwise known as the "back stairwell". They wore era-appropriate clothing and carried only the necessities - the family bible, cast-iron skillet and a stuffed animal!

What great memories of the good ole days at Jermantown (pre-SOL's).

Thanks so much Joanna!

All the best.

Mary Purdy

From Lia Denson

I am so pleased to be ble to be part of another milestone in your life Joanna. Retirement is a posititve step. I hope you will enjoy every minute of it.

You will wonder how you ever had time to work, once you get into enjoying all the extra travel, reading, babysitting, meeting with friends, visiting museums, and all the other additional activities that are out there.

You, Ann, Kathy and I have had some wonderful experiences, and some sad moments, together. Now that we are all retired, we can plan to do some fun things together.

Happy retirement Joanna,

Lia

From Kathy LeSage

My first memory of Joanna is at the PTA breakfast on the first day of school during my first year of teaching at Jermantown Elementary School. I was returning to teaching after being home for 13 years and I was a nervous wreck. Joanna sat across from me and we got to chatting about teaching, our family, and mainly our children. I discovered we both had 3 children—2 girls and a boy—and they were about the same age. In fact we determined that the girls had played soccer and softball together and that Joanna and I had both been Girl Scout leaders in the same big group many years previous. I was beginning to feel a lot better knowing that I was working with people with lots in common.

I was teaching 4th grade and Joanna 5th. Joanna’s class was very overcrowded and so in the middle of the year I was assigned to teach a 4/5 combo class and Joanna had to assign about 10 of her students to me. This was her chance to give me all her less desirable students—but alas, being the generous soul that she is, she gave me pretty good kids. She also took me under her wing and shared her 5th grade materials and fun activities. We spent lots of time together as I barely knew the 4th grade curriculum and now I had to learn 5th too. She was never too busy to answer my mundane questions or help me with any problem. We did the 5th grade Westward Adventure Day and had a blast. I was never so grateful to have such a great partner—more on this later.

A few years later Joanna got assigned to teach 4th grade. By now I had a few years teaching going for me so I was able to pay back and help Joanna a little with 4th grade curriculum. We spend many hours together developing the changing curriculum, writing letters to parents, listening to each others gripes, and talking about our family. Together, we survived the Magliari, Pope, Mitchell, Kane, and Hanbury administrations.

Joanna and I became friends outside of the classroom. Going to lunch, the theater, and visiting each other’s homes became a routine. I’ll never forget our fabulous trips to New York to visit Mandy—the museums, the restaurants, and the shows. One day after walking Central Park and visiting museums we were on our way to the theater when Mandy informed us that we would have to stand for this show as there were no seats. What!!!!! I hoped she was kidding. She wasn’t and we survived and enjoyed the show. The best show we saw was Swimming With Watermellons. I thought that show was hilarious and have never laughed so hard at anything. Thanks Mandy.

We watched our kids grow up, get married, give us grandchildren, and we shared and rejoiced at each event. We suffered migraine headaches together and knew we were talking to someone who really understood our pain. We consulted and consoled each other as our moms got older and laughed at the outlandish things that they sometimes did. Pauline and Frances were two of a kind and we loved them both.

When I decided to retire and move to Maryland, I told Joanna where we had bought a house and she knew exactly where it was. I hardly knew where it was and thought no one would have heard of Pasadena. Joanna explained that when she was a girl her cousin had a place across the river and she visited there often during the summer—amazing!

Now that Joanna is retiring, I am absolutely delighted—I’ll have another playmate. I’ve never been shy about calling Joanna and asking if I can bunk at her place for the night. I hope she will do the same to me now that she has more time.

I’ve known Joanna for about 22 years and consider her one of my dearest friends. She always remembers my birthday—not only the day, but exactly how old I am. How can she do that? Besides being friends, we considered each other coworkers, teammates, buddies, travelling companions, and partners—that is, until her girls told her she just had to stop calling Mrs. LeSage her partner because people would think we were gay. How funny!

Happy retirement Joanna! It’s time to relax and spend some time on yourself. You know where we are and I can’t wait to hear from you when you get back from San Fran—yes, you MUST come back.

Love,

Kathy LeSage