GREENFIELD — It’s the end of an era at Harris Elementary School.
Third-grade teacher Kathy Spivey is retiring after teaching her entire 42-year career at the school.
She has taught more than 1,000 students and several generations of local families over the years.
Laughter paired with learning was just part of the experience in her classroom. The sound of her students’ laughter is the thing she’ll miss most, Spivey said.
One of her fondest memories is the day she literally fell out of her chair in front of her entire class.
“I was sitting on my chair with wheels on it and I slid and ended up on the floor. My kids were too respectful to laugh until I did, followed by questions about if I was OK,” she recalled.
Times like that are the perfect opportunity to teach students the value of being able to laugh at themselves, said Spivey, who took pride in creating a fun and rigorous learning environment for her students.
“Kids love Mrs. Spivey,” said Sarah Greulich, principal at the Greenfield elementary school.
While she’s only been principal of the school for a year, Greulich said she’s known of Spivey’s reputation as a popular educator for years.
“She’s very well-known in the district for being a masterful teacher who builds good relationships with both students and parents. She is very well-loved and often requested,” the principal said.
More than four decades of service at the same school is something you don’t see very often, Gruelich said.
“She’s seen a lot of different trends but continued to be an amazing teacher, so we celebrate with her as she makes this next move into retirement and into this next season of life,” she said.
When starting as a fresh-faced teacher in 1977, Spivey probably never thought she’d round out her career more than four decades later by teaching students virtually from a computer. Yet that’s exactly how her final school year ended thanks to the coronavirus.
Since school was dismissed abruptly before spring break, Spivey was unable to give her students the goodbye hugs she wished she could have given them at the end of her final year. Instead, she and her class wished each other well through a computer screen.
“In some ways, it worked out better for me that way,” said Spivey, who said she always cries when saying goodbye to students on the last day of school.
“I think that because I haven’t physically seen them since March it maybe made it easier on me that I didn’t get all those hugs, because it would have been so emotional knowing it was my final year,” she said.
The longtime educator didn’t make the decision to retire until the end of the school year. At 64, it just seemed like the time was right time to call it quits and focus on retirement with her husband, Greg.
“After 42 years, it was a hard decision for me to make, but it’s a decision I think I’m really good with. It’s hard to step away from a career that you’ve just loved, but it felt like the right time,” said Spivey, who lives in New Palestine.
She and her husband hope to travel, especially to Arizona, where their two grown children live.
She’d also love to visit all the national parks.
Despite an unprecedented spring semester where she adapted to teach her class remotely, Spivey feels like she’s going out on a high note.
“I had a great class, a wonderful group of boys and girls, so it left me with a great way to go out,” she said.
Spivey taught third grade all but one year over more than four decades: She taught fourth grade her second year when the school needed to fill a vacancy.
“I just love the age of that child. I love the way they are emotionally and socially,” she said.
“They still mostly love school; they want to please and they love their teacher, but they’re independent enough that they can tie their own shoes. For me it’s always been the perfect age.”
Due to social distancing restrictions, a retirement celebration in Spivey’s honor will be held at a later time.
Notes and well wishes can be sent to Spivey at: Harris Elementary, 200 W. Park Avenue, Greenfield, IN 46140.
