Penner’s credo remains: ‘Reading is important’

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ALEEN RATZLAFF
If Carolyn Penner had her way, children would get as much time practicing reading skills as some get practicing athletic skills.

“I don’t think you can get a coach in the state to say, ‘Oh, we’ll just practice 30 minutes a day,'” said Penner, who retired this spring from her position as librarian at Hillsboro Elementary School.

“Schools are lucky if (children) get 30 minutes a day for reading.”

That she uses a sports analogy when talking about the value of reading shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows her. Husband Don retired eight years ago from coaching football and teaching full-time at Hillsboro High School. He still coaches track in the spring.

But now it’s been her turn to ponder the right time to retire.

Penner started to seriously consider her options when the school board offered early retirement packages as per the master contract for certified employees qualified to retire.

“When this (offer) came up, I really liked what I did,” Penner said. “I loved the kids, I liked the books, I liked the staff-I liked my job.

“I would tell people I had the best job in the district. I really believe it.”

When the board’s offer first came up, she wasn’t planning to accept it.

“But then, as I started weighing things, it really seemed that maybe it was a door that was open and it was a good time to walk through it,” she said.

After pausing for a moment, she added, “Maybe it’s a good time to go out when thing are going well.”

This spring, Penner finished 23 years with Unified School District 410. Add her first two at Windom High School, and years in public education total 25.

Penner grew up in McPherson.

“I was one of those kids who played ‘school,'” she said. “I always thought that I wanted to teach. I loved English, I loved literature, I loved language.”

Her English teacher at McPherson High School, Helen Matson, gets credit, Penner said, for fostering her interest in teaching English.

Penner’s passion as an educator is helping students develop a love for learning and become the best that they can be.

“We came from that generation where teaching was not just an ‘at school’ job-that it’s important to see the whole student, not just in the classroom,” she said.

While a student at McPherson College, she did her student teaching in English at Windom High, where she met her future husband, who was teaching and coaching there.

They were married in August 1961, and she began her teaching career as a part-time librarian at Windom High in 1962.

The Penners moved to Hillsboro in 1967 after Don was hired as the high school football coach.

Carolyn Penner first taught here as a substitute in 1973. Since then, her positions have varied-from teaching high school English to library work.

“Sometimes part time, sometimes full time,” she said about her years in the school district.

When Superintendent Robert C. Brown faced a budget crunch in the late ’70s, he made a number of staff cuts.

One of those cuts was Penner’s position, so she took a job as a clerk at the former Groening Clothiers in Hillsboro.

“That was fun,” she said. “It was a whole different clientele-people from within the county. It really was interesting doing retail.”

Penner returned to the district in 1982 to teach English. Since fall 1997, she’s worked only as librarian at HES, a part-time position.

“I always thought, for the kids, the elementary library position should be full-time,” she said. “But when Don retired (in 1996), my schedule was adjusted, so it worked very well.”

Her responsibilities at the library evolved over time, including overseeing three budgets and ordering, processing and maintaining the collections.

“When I did ordering (for the collection), my first criterion was teacher requests, second was curriculum, and third was good, reviewed books for kids,” she said.

In 1993, she also oversaw the automation of the library’s collections.

“We went to automation with the card catalog and that was wonderful for librarians, students and teachers,” she said. “When it works, it’s wonderful. You can just type in a word and get bibliographies for teachers.”

She also had library time with class when she would devote 30 minutes to reading and learning library skills.

Working with the children has always been a highlight, especially the youngest children.

“For me one of the fun things at the library was seeing kids get hooked on reading-when kids would come in and say, ‘What’s a good book?’ and then they’d come back and say, ‘That was a good book.’

“It’s just a delight to see kids discover reading.”

Among her programs to promote reading were author studies.

“I think it’s important for kids to get some context and some background of authors and illustrators,” she said.

She also introduced students to a wide range of children’s literature.

“(In recent years) children’s literature and the illustrations have just blossomed,” Penner said. “The quality of it is so much better.”

Each year the William Allen White Children’s Book Award Committee creates a list of titles, chosen from books published during the previous year. The award is given to two books-one for third to fifth grade and one for sixth to eighth grade.

“With the upper level-fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders-we always did the William Allen White list,” she said. “I tried to read at least one book to the upper-level kids.”

Penner also provided some extra help in teaching students the skills needed to access information in the library, such as the World Almanac, the card catalog and other resources.

“Working with kids was the best part (of my job),” she said.

Penner anticipates spending more time with her husband, traveling and visiting family.

“It would be fun to visit Doug during the school year,” she said about her eldest son, who lives in France, where he teaches language arts and social studies at the middle-school level.

“Christmas in Paris would be fun,” she added.

Doug and his wife, Isabel, are planning to visit the Penners in August.

Second son, David, 40, is a pharmaceutical representative. He and wife Karla live near Walton, where she boards horses and gives riding camps.

Daughter Deb Kroeker works as an elementary school librarian, and lives with her husband, Jeff, in Augusta.

“We started library (classes) the same year together,” she said about her daughter. “That’s been a delight. Our husbands talk coaching and Deb and I can talk books.”

Like most grandparents, the Penners treasure spending time with their six grandchildren, who range from age 5 to a high school senior.

“Of course, you know they’re the light of our lives,” she said. “That’s really our best job.”

Penner is especially looking forward to having a more flexible schedule.

“There are a lot of opportunities I see within the church and the community,” she said about her volunteer interests.

“I think if I need a library fix, Deb or the public library will let me come in and help.”

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