Published: July 01, 2008 09:28 am         

D118 retirees recall fond memories

Livingston, Garner and Parsons enjoyed careers

DANVILLE — Danville District 118 educators Barbara Garner, Diane Livingston and Cynthia Parsons all ended their careers this spring. Here’s a little more about them and their thoughts on working in Danville schools.

Diane Livingston

Although a career as a United Nations interpreter also appealed to her, Diane Livingston found her calling in special education. She ended her career at South View Middle School this spring.

“I loved Spanish in high school,” she said. “I read a book about an interpreter and thought that would be really cool.”

Although she worked in a number of places with children who faced many challenges, she learned from them.

“They taught me patience and humility and thankfulness,” she said, “all of them.”

Her main frustration has been the ever-growing list of mandates from the government.

“The government keeps saying we have to have all these programs, but then they don’t fund them,” she said. “NCLB (No Child Left Behind) is very frustrating.”

She remembers one embarrassing moment too: falling down in a hallway at school.

“Right in front of the principal and senior class,” she said, laughing. “Good Lord, that was awful, but I had to laugh.”

She advises future teachers to find good mentors.

“Choose the most experienced teacher in their area and pick that teacher’s brain,” she said.

In retirement, Livingston spends time with her husband, Larry, six children and seven grandchildren.

Barbara Garner

One of retired Garfield Elementary School Principal Barbara Garner’s most memorable times as an educator was setting the stage for a brand new school.

She helped open Southwest Elementary School in 2001.

“I was really happy to be able to help open a brand new school and (have) the opportunity to plan and decide just how we were going to work,” she said.

“We put everything into place — procedures in the hallways, building the schedule … Not only was the building built from the ground up, but so was everything else … I’m proud that we were able to work together and build the consensus to make that school successful.”

Garner said another bright aspect of her career has been all the people she’s worked with. Her last school was no exception.

“Something I’ve really appreciated everywhere I’ve worked — and particularly since I’ve become an administrator — is when the staff was always willing to work together. That’s most certainly been the case since I’ve been here at Garfield.”

Garner recognizes changes in the community have taken place over her career.

“It seems like we have more people in need … that’s one of our challenges, to try and help,” she said.

“School is more than a place where a child gets an education. We try and solve problems for our families.”

The kids, she says, always make the job worth it though.

“Students have a way of bringing out the best in you, and if you’re not doing your best, they have a way of reminding you or keeping you on your toes,” she said.

“When you see students being compassionate to others and doing the right thing, it helps remind us of the right things.”

In retirement, Garner will spend time with her husband, Gail, and their four children and two grandchildren.

The Garners have plenty of hobbies to keep them busy, including gardening, reading, attending theater productions and participating in church functions.

Cyndi Parsons

Although creating art and teaching art classes are two of Cyndi’s passions, she discovered another during her career as an educator: gender equality.

“One of my programs got state and national recognition,” she said, describing her grant-supported initiatives at VVEDS.

She called the program one of the highlights of her career.

Her program for gender equality in vocational education took her all the way to Washington, D.C. in the early ’90s. She also presented at a state principal’s conference.

She said the most memorable moment of her career, however, was starting the art program at Northeast.

“Starting that program has been a dream,” she said.

In May, she was already beginning to miss many things about school.

She wrote the following in an e-mail: “I will miss walking into this building and my room every day. I will miss the laughter of my colleagues in the hall and the sounds of the children on the playground and in the cafeteria.

“I will miss greeting my students the door every morning and I miss spending my day with great kids. I will miss them, their parents and the staff.”

Although she won’t be returning to her class in the fall, she has many other projects keeping her busy.

“I’m an artist, but as an art teacher you never have time to do your own art. I want to do that,” she said.

Much of her work is two-dimensional graphic drawing.

She advises future teachers not to forget that kids will be kids, no matter what changes around them.

“Get to know your students and parents,” she said, “(and) value and respect them as individuals; … teach them and not subjects. Curriculum changes but their need to be loved and valued doesn’t change.”

DIANE LIVINGSTON

Retired Danville District 118 special education teacher

Age: 57

Education: Bachelor’s from Illinois State University, 1972; graduate hours toward a master’s degree

Experience: 1972: teacher in Georgetown schools; 1972-74: teacher in Fairborn, OH; 1974-1988, teacher in Catlin schools; 1988-1993: Danville District 118 special education teacher working in adolescent psychiatric unit at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; special education teacher at Douglas Elementary School; 1997-99: began Vermilion County Regional Safe Schools program; 1999-2008 taught classes for students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders at Douglas and South View Middle School, where she ended her career

Favorite book: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee

Favorite school lunch: corn dogs

Mentor: Eileen Swinford, a sixth grade teacher at Catlin

Outstanding moments: Being named Woman Educator of the Year in Catlin, circa 1988; “I’ve loved every single minute of the last 35 years. I am truly blessed.”

BARBARA GARNER

Retired District 118 principal

Age: 55

Education: Bachelor’s from Illinois State University, 1974; master’s degree, 1979; master’s in administration from Eastern Illinois University, 2000

Experience: 1974-1978: taught at Dwight Elementary School in Dwight; 1978-79, graduate assistant at ISU; 1979-1987: East Park Junior High ninth grade math and language arts teacher; 1987-2001: North Ridge Middle School English and math teacher; 2001-03: assistant principal at Southwest Elementary School; 2003: South View Middle School assistant principal; 2004-2008 prinicpal at Garfield Elementary School

Favorite authors: Janet Evanovich, Randy Wayne White, David Baldacci, Jeffery Deaver, John Grisham

Favorite school lunch: Spaghetti, tossed salad and roll with apple crisp

Mentors: Retired District 118 administrators Gail Garner, her husband, and Bill Cooper; Mark Neil, Danville High School principal

CYNDI PARSONS

Retired District 118 teacher

Age: 54

Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois; obtained master’s degree in 1993

Experience: teachers aid in Oakwood in the early to mid-‘70s; taught art at Westville High School; taught Title 1 reading program at Oakwood High School; spent seven years at Vermilion Educational Vocational Delivery System running two grant programs: she helped establish a program for sex equity in vocational education and also instigated a program for teen and single parents at VVEDS; taught at South View Milddle Scool for three years; taught at Northeast Elementary Magnet School for last 11 years. She taught art at Northeast and finished her career as a fourth-grade teacher there

Favorite book: The Bible

Favorite school lunch: Northeast’s salad bar

Mentor: Bob Weist, former VVEDS director and Northeast fourth-grade teacher Leola Davis