160 Years: 5 retiring Plano 88 teachers, with decades of experience, say their bonds are irreplaceable

When you have 160 total teaching years intertwined with the careers and personal lives of five teachers, their legacy takes on a life of its own.

For retiring Plano School District 88 teachers, Tammy Campbell, Laura Smith, Susan Love, Shelley Schmidt and John Chernick, even through shared tears, the legacy they’ve left behind in the classrooms has made the years worthwhile.

“These guys are my family, Centennial Elementary is my home,” Laura Smith, a third grade teacher, said through smiles and tears. “I’m going to miss seeing our team. I love teaching. I love the kids and the connections. I’m friends with so many parents of students I’ve taught. Us teachers have built a life together. It’s like our kids are each other’s kids.”

The teachers laughed when thinking how many of them have taught each other’s kids as their families grew into the fabric of the Plano community.

“Those personal relationships will never go away” Smith said. “Plano is such a special community, you truly impact the students, giving them glimmers of hope every morning. It’s amazing to see grown adults come back and they’re now teaching side by side. They are forming the same close relationships we did.”

The living legacy became apparent for high school math teacher John Chernick, when more than 50 active district employees he once taught gathered on a stage to celebrate his career.

“I realized the effect the community has had on myself,” Chernick said. “The community welcomed me and made me feel a part of everything. My kids had wonderful teachers too. It’s been amazing. The community’s embrace of everyone is what’s touched me the most.”

The group of teachers amusingly reflected on how often their own children brought up Chernick’s finance unit on 401Ks.

“To hear kids come back years later and say they still remember my teaching, it’s very powerful for me,” Chernick said. “You aren’t just teaching your subject, you’re teaching kids. Realizing that is when it becomes more than a job. It becomes a passion. I felt loved in my classroom.”

Third grade teacher Susan Love said since growing up herself in Plano, she’s seen the power of compassion in stewarding the town as its grown through the decades.

“As a teacher, you always have to stay positive, through the easy days and through the difficult days, it’s always about being there for the kids,” Love said. “Family among us all is so important. Teaching has been my whole life. I wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten here in Plano. It’s who I am.”

Love joined Smith and Campbell saying that they enjoyed team-teaching and collaborative themed-units, mixing together teachers and students from other classrooms. She said the students loved learning science during their ‘Ocean Days’ unit.

“Promoting hands-on learning with inclusive team-based activities was my favorite part of teaching,” Love said. “We see the most academic success when students are working together. Seeing students learning during projects, in the same building I went to school in as a kid, it’s so special.”

Sharing her memories, Shelly Schmidt, a fourth grade special education teacher at Emily G. Johns School, said she loved seeing how excited her students became when service dogs came to see them or when the fire department came with their water trucks to spray water up high over the kids.

“The students have such a blast,” Schmidt said. “Anytime we can bring people into our school to share things, the kids and the community benefit so much from it.”

Schmidt said she’s going to miss seeing her students light-up while illustrating words from musical books she started each morning with.

“Music has a way of lifting up the kids, putting them in a better mood,” Schmidt said. “I’ve seen over my career how important it is to build connections with students, including understanding what they’re dealing with at home.”

Looking around at her fellow teachers, she said the relationships they’ve built have become irreplaceable.

“When I moved here, I fell in love with the people,” Schmidt said. “As any family, we know everything about one another. We go out together on the weekends. Even with Plano doubling in size since we all started, we have that connection. I hope Plano doesn’t lose that going forward.”

With happy tears flowing between them, third grade teacher Tammi Campbell captured everyone’s sentiments.

“When you build strong relationships with your co-workers, it helps increase the desire to foster the students even more and to always do what’s best for them,” Campbell said. “It allows you to collaborate with each other. There’s nothing more rewarding than hearing kids engage with what they’re learning and spreading that knowledge to one another.”

Looking around at the fellow teachers who have become her family, Campbell summed up their relationship.

“There were so many special moments, it raises so many emotions,” Campbell said. “It almost makes me want to do the years all over again.”