Coming home to teach

Candace Bennis

Jamie Ward

Sheridan Robertson

Kimberly Weyant

Jennifer Heisler

Kelly Robertson

TRR photos by Richard A. Ross

Sullivan County graduates populate Mackenzie School’s recent hires

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GLEN SPEY, NY — New teachers bring energy and vitality to schools. If they are from the area, working alongside teachers who once taught them, the synergy is even greater.

So with five Sullivan County graduates beginning their careers at the Mackenzie School this past September, students and district residents can expect great things.

Though many area high school seniors repeat the mantra of “wanting to leave the area and never come back,” the Mackenzie School is an example that family ties, rural beauty and the magnetic force of strong communities is more attractive than some young people may have imagined.

The Eldred School District has a preponderance of teachers who hail from the area. The new hires join a number of other former Eldred students who teach in the district where they were educated.

As a group Mackenzie’s new teachers are energetic, optimistic and hard-working. Sheridan Robertson graduated from Eldred Central School and went to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. There, she majored in elementary education and psychology. Sheridan’s positive high school experience was responsible for her gravitating towards teaching. Returning home last year, to the very place she started from, seems natural to her.

“It’s nice to never have to lock my door, to be near my mother and to enjoy the country feel of the area,” she said. Sheridan teaches fourth grade in Mackenzie, which opened the year she graduated from Eldred.

Her sister, Kelly, followed the same path back. After graduating from Eldred in 1998, she also attended Muhlenberg. Kelly said that Eldred prepared her for the rigors of college and that she has always felt strong ties to the community. She regards it as a privilege and a pleasure to work alongside teachers she once had, she said with a beaming smile. Kelly teaches first grade.

For the Robertson sisters, there is no place like home.

Jamie Ward just began her first year at Mackenzie teaching music and drama. A native of Livingston Manor, she went to Hartwick College to study music education. Jamie has always loved music and theatre.

“As an artist, I wanted to get kids involved in performance,” she said.

Jamie is the musical director of the upcoming production of “The Music Man.” Working for the Eldred School District has fulfilled her wish to be involved with the arts while being close to her family.

Kim Weyant graduated from Eldred in 1997. She went to Orange County Community College where she got an A.A. degree in history and to Cortland where she received a degree in elementary education and history. Kim was one of those high school students who couldn’t wait to leave, she said, but soon discovered that she missed her friends and family a great deal. A new mom, Kim has decided to make her life in the community she once vowed to leave.

“I got so much from this community, school and teachers, I just wanted to give something back.”

Jennifer Heisler graduated from Eldred in 1998. She got her degree from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania in elementary education and science. Her mom is the librarian at Mackenzie, so to her, “this school is home.”

Jennifer now works in the same school as Mr. Carroll, a special education teacher who was once her Junior Varsity basketball coach. Jennifer describes the teachers she had as “extremely supportive.”

Candace Bennis is the new CSE Chairperson and K-12 administrator. A 1984 graduate of Narrowsburg and former resident of Lake Huntington, Candace came to Mackenzie by way of Keystone Junior College, Sullivan County Community College, Long Island University and SUNY New Paltz. Candace echoes the positives sentiments about living and working here.

“I love the area. When I was growing up, I always thought that this would be a great place to live someday.” That someday has arrived. Though Candace had to find out if the “grass was greener” elsewhere, like her other new colleagues, she chose to embrace the area as her home.

Their former teachers have welcomed them back as colleagues.

 “I had Sheri, Kelly, Kim, and Jennifer as students,” third grade teacher Susan Schadt said. “As a former Eldred graduate myself, who now teaches here, it’s kind of in the reverse. I have taught with some of my former teachers, so I know what they are going through and what it feels like. I am very happy to be working with them.”

Other former Eldred graduates among its current staff include sixth grade teacher Linda Hazen and her sister, first grade teacher Shari Van Hage, and fifth grade teachers Jennifer Carleo and Ronald Dunker.

So when you hear the laments that all young people move from the area, you will know that they come back to Eldred, at least, to teach.