ROCK FALLS – Retiring Merrill Elementary teacher Doug Hand recalls seeing a big, burly man walking across the playground about 21 years ago at Thome Elementary School, where he used to teach.

Hand didn’t realize right away that the fully-grown man was a former student, Brent, coming to ask him something.

Brent told Hand that he and his wife were going to have their first child, and they wanted to name their child after the teacher, Hand said.

The request, which he granted, made Hand feel like he was “floating,” he said.

Hand, 61, is one of three fifth-grade teachers at Merrill Elementary who will retire this year, and each of the retirees has more than 3 decades of teaching experience in the Rock Falls Elementary district.

Barb Zinanni, 60, also is retiring, leaving her brightly decorated room that students call “the rainbow room.”

“It’s tough to walk away,” she said. “In this district, we had good camaraderie with teachers, kids. You feel like you’ve made a difference.”

Hand also expressed how much he enjoyed teaching.

“I’ve never done anything for 39 years that I’ve loved more,” he said. “It’s like getting paid for doing nothing because you love what you do. I have no bad memories here.”

Stralow, 58, is a former gym teacher at Thome. He also has coached football, basketball and track at Rock Falls High School and baseball and basketball at Morrison High School.

Being a sports enthusiast, he has developed a tradition of dividing his classes into teams and giving them points based on grades, behavior and returning notes signed by parents. The team with the most points for a month gets rewarded with pizza. The team system was so successful that four or five other teachers at Merrill have instituted some sort of points system in their classes.

“The incentive program inspires students,” Stralow said. “Not often do we do anything with negativity.”

Special education teacher Denise Gallardo has worked closely with Zinanni and Stralow, who have done a “wonderful” job with her students, she said.

“They have a way of connecting with all types of children and getting the best out of each child,” she said. “I consider myself very fortunate to teach with these two teachers.”

Gallardo has known Zinanni since Gallardo started working at Dillon Elementary 34 years ago.

“She’ s made me a better teacher and the teacher I am today,” she said.

Fifth-grade teacher Karen Ricks has worked with Hand for 10 years.

Hand is an old-school disciplinarian, Ricks said.

“He disciplines with love,” she said. “His students really respect him. They do exactly what they’re told to do.”

Hand is able to personalize history lessons, making them interesting for the students, Ricks said. He also has a large mooring rope along his classroom’s floor, and he uses it to teach students to tie knots, she said.

Hand also instills pride in the community by involving the students in community projects, Ricks said.

Hand and his classes have sent the puppet Elwood around the world. His classes vote each year to decide where to send him. Elwood has traveled 4.6 million miles. The puppet is 4 feet, 4 inches tall and is “eternally a fifth-grader,” according to his website. His travels are meant to inspire children to believe in a dream and see it through to the end.

“They love Elwood,” Ricks said. “It’s so interesting to see where the kids want to send him.”

Hand was one of the first in the district to use a smart board, and he is good with technology, Ricks said.

Stralow and Hand have been good role models and father figures for some of the male students, Ricks and Gallardo said.

Parents who studied under the teachers will ask for those teachers for their children, Principal Kyle Ackman said.

“It speaks volumes about them,” he said.

The retirees have tried to teach their students manners and character, not just reading, writing and arithmetic, Ackman said.

“They’ve contributed to a positive culture in expectations and how we expect kids to act in lunchroom, field trips ... things outside school,” the principal said. “They’re all big on making that impact last outside of the school walls, which is very important. They look to make kids well rounded, positive citizens.”

Doug Hand

Age: 61

Education: Rock Falls High School, 1969; Northern Illinois University, bachelor's degree in elementary education, 1973; National Louis University, master's degree in curriculum and instruction, 2000.

Experience: Taught at Thome School and Merrill Elementary School.

Hometown: Rock Falls

Duane Stralow

Age: 58

Years of teaching experience: 36

Education: Morrison High School, 1972; North Central College, bachelor's degree in physical education and psychology, 1976; St. Xavier University, master's degree in leadership in education, 2007

Teaching experience: Taught gym 5 years at Thome School, taught 11 years at Rock Falls Middle School, taught 20 years at Merrill Elementary School.

Coaching experience: Coached football for 24 years at Rock Falls High School; coached girls basketball and track at Rock Falls High School; coached varsity girls basketball 4 years at Morrison High School; coached freshmen boys basketball 2 years at Morrison High School; coached baseball 6 years at Morrison High School.

Hometown: Morrison

Barb Zinanni

Age: 60

Years of teaching: 39

Education: Rock Falls High School, 1969; Northern Illinois University, bachelor's degree in elementary education, 1973; National Louis University, master's degree in curriculum and instruction, 2000.

Experience: Taught 26 years at Dillon Elementary School, 2 years at Thome School, and 11 years at Merrill Elementary.

Hometown: Rock Falls

About Elwood

Go to http://www.elwoodsadventures.com to learn more about Elwood, Doug Hand's world-traveling puppet.

Other teachers retiring from Rock Falls schools

Dillon Elementary

Betty Brown: Teaches second grade; has taught in the district for 37 years.


Rock Falls Middle School

Joe Gallardo: Teaches physical eduction to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade boys. Has taught for 37 years.


Rock Falls High School

Roger Albright: In-school teacher

Lylia Stripling: Spanish

Cristela Wahl: Spanish

Brinda Winger: Physical education

Retirement party

There will be a retirement party for Merrill Elementary School's retirees and for Joe Gallardo, who is retiring from Rock Falls Middle School. The get-together will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at Wagon Wheel Lounge & Restaurant, 1711 W. Fourth St. The public is invited.