Jeanie
retired from the school system with 26.2 years of service. She began
her career as a clerk at the Educational Center and then went on to
teach first grade at Woodlake Elementary. Future years would find her as a
school librarian, Assistant Principal, and she retired as the
Principal of Woodlake; looks like Jeanie went full circle!
Fifteen
years ago she was presented her Ph.D. in School Administration, and
found herself teaching classes at SLU and UNO in the undergraduate,
masters, and doctoral programs. Even after retiring Jeanie taught
Teacher Leadership at the Masters level at USM.
Jeanie
has chosen to lead a fulfilling second half of her life by traveling
and spending more time with family members all around the USA and the
world.
Her
typical day begins with a 1 mile morning walk and a leisurely
breakfast with her husband Kenny, who happens to be an associate
member of our association. The lovely couple just celebrated their twenty-first
anniversary. Jeanie enjoys a few hobbies and has just recently
decided to try quilting. She did “virtual quilting” for a few
years and has made a few quilts for baby showers. Her afternoons end
with an evening walk of another mile. She is not a fan of walking
after dark and these short winter days sometimes interfere with her
evening stroll. Unless it is storming, they even go out with rain
jackets and umbrellas. The cold doesn’t stop them either.
When
asked to name her favorite out-of-town destination she answered
“That’s a hard question.” Kenny and Jeanie have children in
California, Florida, Madisonville, Italy, and Japan. They have spent
a great deal of their retirement years traveling. They are travel
trailer novices, and both like to visit state parks. Unicoi State
Park outside of Helen, GA, is a favorite. Besides that Europe is
wonderful (Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain,
Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Scotland) and so is Japan. She loved New
Zealand.
They have visited Disney Paris, Disney Tokyo, Disney World
and most recently, Disneyland and California Adventure. Jeanie has
found a new love of roller coasters on the California Screamin’.
She has visited 49 out of the 50 states; she is not sure how she
missed New Mexico! She also loves cruises. She believes that her
favorite place would be anywhere that she finds a loved one.
What
do you wish you could tell your younger self? Her reply was, “Don’t
sweat the small stuff.” “Be devoted and dedicated to your work,
but don’t let it be all consuming.” “Life is for the living
and is to be enjoyed – every last minute of it!” “Always put
family first!”
If
you are interested in a really good book check out When
Breath becomes Air
by Paul Kalinithi. Any
hidden talents? When Jeanie wants to relax she plays her piano.
