GREENFIELD — Three long-term educators in Greenfield-Central schools are making this school year their last, having announced their retirement to be effective when classes conclude in May.
Two of the soon-to-be retirees — first-grade teacher Kristin Fewell and instructional assistant Kathy Barrett — have spent three decades working together at Harris Elementary School.
“Both of these ladies are icons at Harris,” Principal Sarah Greulich said. “They truly love students, work tirelessly for students, and have been very important to the Greenfield-Central school district.”
The third retiree, Dave Beal, has spent more than two decades with the corporation, serving all but two years as associate principal at the high school.
“Dave is one of those quiet servant leaders,” said the high school’s principal, Jason Cary. “He does a lot of work behind the scenes — away from the spotlight and the attention. His knowledge of the building itself and the history of this place has made him an invaluable part of our team.”
With just over five weeks left in the school year, the outgoing educators took some time to reflect on the students and colleagues who made their careers so memorable.
KRISTIN FEWELL
Kristin Fewell is somewhat of a legend at Harris Elementary School.
The longtime teacher is set to retire after 44 years of teaching first grade there.
She’s taught over 1,000 students since launching her career in 1976, teaching back-to-back generations.
“I taught the children of former students, and was getting to the point of almost teaching the grandchildren of former students, so I figured it was time to hit the door,” she said with a laugh.
“They always say you’ll know when it’s time to go, and it’s true,” said Fewell, 66. “It’s time to get some (young blood) in here, but I will miss it. It’s kind of surreal.”
Fewell’s main goal for her retirement is spending plenty of time with family. She’s eagerly awaiting the birth of her third grandchild.
The pandemic has made it tough to see her family over the past year, she said, and also took a toll on her teaching career.
“The technology (that became necessary) was a lot. I prefer books and paper and pencils,” said Fewell, who calls herself “old school.”
“I think technology and devices have their place, but there’s just too much of it. Children need to open a book, smell it and really enjoy the experience.”
From the start of her career, Fewell had planned to work a full half century, but has come to terms with stopping six years short of that goal.
“I’d had some family members who had taught for 50 years, and that was always my goal,” she said, but the passing of time somewhat snuck up on her.
“You still kind of think in your head you’re how old you really aren’t,” she said with a chuckle.
It wasn’t until her students were doing a math problem to figure out her age on her birthday last year that it hit her.
“My students were asking how old I was, and I said, ‘You tell me. I started teaching when I was 22 and I’ve been teaching for 44 years.’ When they pointed out I was 66, it took me by surprise,” she said.
Fewell said the friendships she’s made with colleagues, along with watching her students learn and grow, have been the best parts of her job.
While she’s loved every minute of her career, Fewell admits to looking forward to getting to take it easy on the weekends. But one thing will remain unchanged: her daily 4 a.m. coffee date with her husband, Chuck Fewell, the mayor of Greenfield.
“We’ve done that for years, even on the weekends,” she said. “We’ll still do that, but I’ll miss coming into the (school) building. “I usually get here about 6 a.m., because you can get your stuff done and still have time to talk to people when they come through.”
Fewell said it might be hard to quit teaching cold turkey, so she might come back to volunteer at the school that has been her second home for more than four decades.
“I’ll miss not getting my new kids every year, seeing them come in,” she said, waxing nostalgic over the past 44 years.
“It has been a wonderful career. I’ve worked with and taught with wonderful teachers, and I’ve had wonderful bosses,” said Fewell, who was heartbroken to lose one of her favorites, former Principal Steven Blue, who died last year.
Fewell said she’s never had a “bad class” in her 44 years of teaching.
“You have some stinkers in every class, but I always like the stinkers,” she said with a grin.
Fewell still keeps in touch with a number of her students — most of whom are now grown — and gets birthday wishes from many of them on Facebook each year.
Although she’s a self-described homebody, Fewell said she and her husband might take a few trips once she retires. She especially wants to visit New England in autumn.
She plans to stay active with Tri Kappa, a philanthropic sorority, and might volunteer at the local food pantry.
The lifelong Greenfield resident is proud to call Greenfield home, and only lived away during her four years at Purdue University, from which she graduated in 1976.
That’s the same year her esteemed teaching career began, when she started her first day at Harris Elementary School.
“I love this place, and I love the people,” Fewell said. “I couldn’t have picked a more wonderful, better place to work.”
KATHY BARRETT
Kathy Barrett speaks just as fondly of the students and staff at Harris Elementary, where she’s served as an instructional assistant for 30 years.
The school is near and dear to her heart. Barrett was once a student there, and her two sons and two granddaughters also attended the school.
Fewell said Barrett is a treasured member of the staff.
“She’ll be greatly missed at Harris. She’s just one of the best. You won’t find anybody finer,” Fewell said.
While Barrett, 71, has worked with every grade level of students at the elementary school, she’s worked exclusively with second-graders for the past 10 years.
As an instructional assistant, it’s her job to work independently with students who might need some extra help.
She started the job in 1985, but took a break from 1998 to 2004 to help care for her first-born granddaughter.
In addition to the friends she’s made, Barrett said her students have been the best part of her job. The childlike wonder she sees in her students never gets old, she said.
“When they have those smiles, that they got something correct, it’s awesome,” Barrett said.
“One time we went on a field trip to downtown Indianapolis, and one little girl said, ‘Is this New York?’ It’s little things like that that just make your day.”
While retiring may be bittersweet, Barrett said it felt like the right time to make way for a new generation of educators.
“I thought it was probably time for some of the younger ones to come in and take over,” said Barrett, a lifelong Greenfield resident, who graduated from Greenfield High School in 1967.
While she had some reservations about retiring, because she likes to stay busy, she plans to keep active by spending time with family, volunteering and working in the flower beds of her Greenfield home.
She’s also looking forward to spending more time with her husband, Dave, to whom she’s been married for 52 years.
“I have no doubt retirement will be joyful,” she said. “Very joyful.”
DAVE BEAL
Dave Beal didn’t land the first job he interviewed for with the Greenfield-Central schools, but he knew that if another chance came along, he’d grab it.
That chance came two years later, in 1998, when he was hired as the associate principal at Greenfield-Central High School.
It’s a post he’s held for most of his 23 years with the corporation, except for a two-year stint as principal at Maxwell Intermediate School starting in 2003.
When he first interviewed for a job with the Greenfield schools, he was instantly charmed by the community.
“I went home (to southern Indiana) and told my wife that if another job opened up here, that I’d take it,” said Beal, 65.
When they finally moved here, he and his wife, Marsha , immediately fell in love with the area, as did their two sons, Jesse and Isaac, who graduated from the high school in 2006 and 2009, respectively.
“We bought a fairly new house here, so we’re here to stay,” said Beal, who grew up near Richmond.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana Central University, which is now the University of Indianapolis, and his master’s of education from Indiana State University.
His first teaching job was with the North Montgomery schools, where he worked two years before moving to North Knox High School in southern Indiana, where he taught “just about everything” for 16 years, including U.S. and world history, social studies, government, psychology, sociology and geography.
He then spent two years as the high school’s assistant principal before getting the call he’d been waiting for from Greenfield in 1998.
Beal said he’s loved the 23 years he’s spent with Greenfield-Central. “It’s been a great place to work and a great place to live,” he said.
“It’s a great community, and the people I work with are top notch. We’ve worked hard at hiring great people.”
The best part of his time here has been the camaraderie with his fellow educators, he said. “I think that will be what I remember the most, just how close we all have become and how much we support each other,” he said.
“I’ll miss that, but I won’t miss getting up early in the morning and staying late at night,” he said with a laugh.
While he never dreamed he’d experience a pandemic in the course of his career, Beal said he’s proud of how the administration has managed the chaos.
“I think we’ve done a good job with the information we’ve had at the time decisions had to be made,” he said. “While it’s been a struggle, at some point you have to look back and say ‘What have we learned?’ so it can make us better going forward.”
In retirement, he and his wife plan to spend more time with their grandkids and probably travel a bit.
“We’ve got some places we’d like to go see, but I’m kind of a homebody,” Beal said.
Cary said Beal will leave a void that’s hard to fill at the high school.
“Everyone loves Dave, and he’s going to be missed terribly at G-CHS,” he said.
