The Yankton School District is saying good-bye to more than 512 years of experience at the end of the school year. Eighteen staff members — ranging from the administrative level to the school board — have announced their retirement.

Terry Crandall, longtime high school counselor and one of those who is bidding farewell to the district, said that, although the school district will replace the people leaving, their experience will be missed.

“That’s a lot of experience,” he said. “You can’t replace that experience. You can replace the people, and I know they will, but you can’t replace that experience.”

The list of retiring school personnel includes:

• Dan Miller, middle school teacher, began at YSD in 1969: 44 years;

• Judy Tereshinski, high school teacher, 1970: 43;

• Marsha Bertsch, Stewart School teacher, 1973: 40;

• Marlene Johnson, enrichment and technology at Stewart, 1974: 39;

• Sandi Pierce, Beadle School teacher, 1977: 36;

• Mary Malchow, high school speech language, 1978: 35;

• Sharon Ehrhart, Lincoln School teacher, 1978: 35;

• Terry Crandall, high school counselor, 1980: 33;

• Ginger Larsen, high school physical education, 1980: 33;

• Nancy Schaap, middle school paraprofessional, 1980: 33;

• LaVonne Lorenzen, Stewart School counselor, 1985: 28;

• Sandy Rupiper, middle school counselor, 1986: 27;

• Joe Gertsema, superintendent, 1990: 23;

• Sandy Hoffner, high school teacher, 1992: 21;

• Chris Specht, school board member, 1997: 16;

• Rhonda Bartekoske, middle school food service, 1999: 14;

• Karen Haffner, middle school food service, 2001: 12;

• Jennifer Satter, Stewart School secretary, (N/A).

Crandall said the top priority of the staff is to prepare students for the future, something they love doing and will miss once they retire.

“Our goal here is to prepare the students and make sure they arrive there safely,” he said. “As time changes the administration changes, and I’ve become more reflective of that, but teachers are still expected to do a job. We’ve been given the opportunity to do the things we felt we’ve needed to do to succeed and have our students succeed.”

Here are profiles of three of the teachers who are retiring at the end of the school year.

Terry Crandall

Crandall has served as a counselor at Yankton High School since 1980. Before that, he taught English and was a counselor in Irene.

Crandall said being a counselor was a natural transition for him, because people always came to him for advice.

“I didn’t like teaching English, and people had always come to me to talk and come to me with their problems, so it was a natural fit for me,” he said. “The counseling program just seemed like a second-nature thing for me. As I became a counselor at the school, I found out it really was a good way for me to express my interest and my abilities.”

Throughout his years at YHS, Crandall has seen changes in administration as well as other aspects of the school, but he said what he noticed the most was the changes in communication and technology.

“There has been a huge change in technology as far as how we do things,” he said. “The students’ outlook and their world view have changed quite a bit over time. You’re able to see what’s going on in Russia in real time, and that’s a new thing. We communicate through Twitter and Facebook and text messaging, and that’s changed how we talk with each other.”

Crandall said the students have always been a big part of his life at YHS.

“I’ll absolutely miss the students. I’ll miss interacting with them and just seeing them in the hallways and seeing them walk by,” he said. “It’s a flow of 1,000 people walking past and it’s amazing, and it’s quite an          experience.”

But Crandall isn’t done with education yet. After he retires, he will teach a human relations class at the University of South Dakota for seniors and graduate students.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “I was almost to the point where I was thinking to myself, ‘Who’s going to want me? What do I have to offer?’ Then USD emailed me to see if I was interested. It kind of came out of nowhere.”

He said he is also looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren and working on his yard at home.

“I love to work on my yard and things like that, so I’ll be able to keep that going. Classes (at USD) don’t start until Aug. 27. Before, I was always working by Aug. 1, and now I’ve got a whole extra month. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a little scared because it’s going to be a new experience, and I want to make sure those students are getting the value out of the class because they’re paying for it. But the class is right in my wheel house.”

Dan Miller

After starting his career as a Yankton Middle School history teacher more than 40 years ago, Dan Miller said now was the time for him to retire.

“I’ve been teaching a long time,” he said. “I’m 69 years old. I could go a while. When I retire, I’ll be able to visit my family in Denver pretty much anytime I want.”

Miller added that he “absolutely loves” teaching middle school aged children and teaching history.

“There wasn’t really anything that influenced my decision to retire. I just felt as if it was the right time to go,” he said. “My first job here was teaching seventh grade American history and I’ve been teaching history ever since, but mostly to eighth grade students.”

Miller said middle school students are more excited about learning than other age groups are.

“For a lot of the students, it’s the first time they’ve ever heard of this stuff. They may have heard about certain events, but didn’t know anything about them,” he said. “They may have known a bit about the Civil War, but not why they fought or the names of the battles. Teaching has easily been the most enjoyable part of my time here at (YSD).”

Judy Tereshinski

Judy Tereshinski began her teaching career at Yankton High School in 1970, and will end her career this week.

“It feels great with Yankton High School as my first and only school,” she said. “The first year when I came here, of course, there were teachers that I had in high school. It was difficult for me to call them by their first name, but it just takes some years of experience. Now it’s time for someone else to be the youngun’.”

Although Tereshinski will miss her teaching days, she said she is happy with her decision. Tereshinski said she has no plans as of now, but will enjoy spending time with her husband Bob, who is retiring from Mount Marty College.

“I’ve cried, I’ve laughed, I’ve been sad and I’ve been happy,” she said. “When I did put in my resignation, that was my saddest day, because I really didn’t know if it was the right thing, the wrong thing, the right time, the wrong time. It’s done, and I’m happy I’ve done it.

“At this point, I’m up for just about anything. I’m hoping to be able to do some things with my husband, first of all, and with my family. I have nothing written in stone. It’s a great feeling.”

When Tereshinski began teaching 43 years ago, the job options for women consisted of teaching, secretarial work, nursing or homemaking, she said. After her sisters became a nurse and a secretary, Tereshinski said she became the teacher of the family.

“I graduated with a math and a Spanish major. I thought I would be teaching math, and then I was hired as a Spanish teacher. I’ve done both throughout the years, and I’ve loved both,” she said.

“I’ll miss my peers, my comrades, my colleagues and the personal connections with the students. I’ve got a lot of former students who are out there pursuing Spanish as a major or a minor or who are teaching Spanish, and that says a lot for them.”

In fact, Tereshinksi’s replacement is one of her former students, which she is glad to see.

“Yankton School District is so fortunate to have the teachers that we have teaching our students, and our community is aware of that.”