Beecher District 200U concluded the school year at the end of May with a staff recognition assembly recognizing years of service, featuring retirees Janette Fankhauser, Tiffany Serafin, Kathy Stolarek and David Serafin.
Janette (Stein) Fankhauser retired after 34 years of teaching. She spent 33 years with Beecher 200U in elementary education and junior high English and one year at Strassburg Elementary in Sauk Village.
During her tenure at Beecher, Fankhauser served two years as a junior high cheerleading coach and the last 15 years as the Beecher Junior High Academic Bowl sponsor.
She earned her teaching degree from Valparaiso University and her master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies/curriculum and instruction from National-Louis University.
Before teaching, Fankhauser worked for Shady Lawn Golf Course (now Cardinal Creek), for Bennett Buckets in Peotone, and was a secretarial aide at Valparaiso University.
Tiffany Serafin retired after 34 years of teaching. She spent 33 years with Beecher 200U in elementary education and, most recently, teaching junior high math and one year in elementary education with District 170 in Chicago Heights.
During her tenure at Beecher, Serafin also served four years as a junior high cheerleading coach. She earned her teaching degree from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies/curriculum and instruction from National-Louis University.
Before teaching, Serafin worked for Shady Lawn Golf Course in Beecher (now Cardinal Creek) and worked for the English department at Joliet Junior College, where she earned her associate’s degree.
Kathy Stolarek retired after 32 years of teaching elementary education, 21 years of which were with Beecher 200U, one year with the Educational Service Center in Flossmoor, one year with District 130 in Crestwood and nine years with Arbor Park School District in Oak Forest.
She earned her teaching degree from Valparaiso University and her master’s degree in teaching literacy and language from Kaplan University.
Before returning to the workforce and teaching at Beecher 200U, Stolarek took time off to raise her family and served as the assistant teacher/director for Beecher Preschool Cooperative.
David Serafin retired after 26 years as a speech/language pathologist. He spent 20 years assigned to Beecher 200U through the South Will County Coop for Special Education and five years with District 168 in Sauk Village.
During his tenure at Beecher, Serafin served the last 18 years as a high school golf coach, having improved the team year after year through his skills as a golf pro.
Before working in education, Serafin was the manager at Cam Golf in Lansing, and he also provided services for multiple nursing home facilities and at ECHO with a team-taught self-contained autistic program.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in communications and master’s degree in communication disorders, both at Governors State University.
George Schuitema, who began volunteering with the high school golf program in 2013, also retired from Beecher 200U after 13 years as an assistant coach.
Special recognitions for years of service included Stephanie Loftin and Sheila Oppenhuis with more than 30 years of service, Jason Hodac, Angel Sanchez and Christine Shoven with 25 years of service, and Loren Assise, Laura Irwin and Mayme Studer with 20 years of service.
Other service awards included Brenda Carlson, Erika Hodac, Fabienne Lentz and Emily Real with 15 years of service; Nicole Black, Alyssa Cerda, Rachel Doyle, Tammy Garnett, Eileen Gliva, Anna Lucia, Carly Patkus, Roberta Scott and Joseph Wensel Jr. with 10 years of service; and Jenny Biesterfeld, Yajaira Esparza-Castillo, Jennifer Goncher, Jon Herron, Lindsey Kokos, Michelle Kwasny, Beth O’Neil, Jennifer Wyma and Katie Zivkovich with five years of service.