An Incredible

Journey

(The Bee has received for publication the following letter to Board of Education chairman Elaine McClure)

Dear Elaine:

I am presenting this letter as notification of my intent to retire from the Newtown, Connecticut, public school system, effective August 1, 2008. I would like to offer some insights and reflection, and above all, thank so many who have enriched my life as an educator over these past three and half decades.

First, let me thank the members of our community for the honor of sharing in the lives of their children and families. Together we have learned to tie shoes, learn our ABCs and numbers, and experienced the joys of reading that first sentence, a first step to a lifetime of scholarship.

I remember my first class at Middle Gate School as it if it were yesterday. My first principal shared a lifelong lesson, one I embrace to this day. “All children are as delicate as a rose, unique, fragrant, some with more thorns than others, but each needing nurture and care to thrive.” At the end of that first year, I was presented a pendant, a bird eating from the palm of one’s hand, with the words. “From your first class!” I carry that lesson to this day.

Next, to all my scholars and parents, past and present, thank you. You have shared lessons of respect and responsibility, justice and caring for self and others, courage, self directedness and a positive appreciation for nature.

But life is a voyage, and we return one day to where we began. And so it was that I found myself as an intern covering classes and repairing bulletin boards. It is time to move on.

My choice to retire at this point is not what I had envisioned, but I am convinced it is the best course of action at this point in my life. I have always tried to be the best I can be in the classroom, where so many roses seek to bloom. My affection for your children as they grow to adulthood will never waiver.

To my young scholars, near and far, always remember, “Once a scholar, always a scholar.”

With my most sincere appreciation, please accept my thanks for the gift of having been able to contribute to Head O’ Meadow School, and to the community of Newtown. It has been an incredible journey.

With sincere best wishes for your continued success,

Susan Marfiak Green

Maplewood Drive, New Milford July 25, 2008