They are both called teachers, but their daily routines have been very different. Now, Mary Callahan and Linda Gillespie are both retiring from many years of service to the Orcas Island School District.

Mary Callahan came to the Orcas Elementary School 14 years ago after having worked in the California school system for 25 years. Callahan not only taught in the classroom but served as a mentor teacher, conference presenter, author, consultant, artist, and specialist for a program called Discipline-Based Art Education. Despite her satisfaction with her work there, it was a desire to live in another part of the country that brought her to Orcas Island.

As a full time fourth/fifth grade teacher she is representative of the elementary staff in that she provides the majority of curriculum to her students during the school day. Students go out for subjects such as P.E. and music, but most everything else is done in the classroom and, except for special blocks done by outside guests, is provided by the classroom teacher.

Teachers plan field trips, special collaborations with other teachers, attend in-service trainings, and interact with parents all to enhance student learning. Callahan believes in the power of “students helping students” and supports any activity that will support this concept.

She is “in awe of what the community is willing to do for these kids.” She cites parental support as a key component for student success and has appreciated parental help in her classroom. She has many treasured memories but the moment that stands out is lying, with joyous tears in her eyes, on the floor with her students and fellow teacher Terry Hopkins, in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and looking up at the Calder hanging mobile, on what Callahan describes as “a once in a lifetime field trip.”

In her retirement, she is looking forward to relaxing with friends and perhaps becoming involved with the Westcott Bay Sculpture Park.

Linda Gillespie originally came to the OISD as a newly graduated teacher from Central Washington University in 1970. She taught a variety of classes, from girls’ P.E to home economics, all out of the building that is now the elementary school. She taught until 1977, when she and her husband Terry became parents. In 1991 she began teaching again and this time had a large room in the middle/high school to teach what is now called family and consumer science education. This year she taught cooking and sewing classes. A joy in her job is watching students expand their culinary horizons as they create and taste dishes that are new to them. Gillespie enjoys the fact that she has taught the parents of some of her students in more recent years.

As a part-time (this year .32 FTE) specialty teacher, Gillespie is one of many part-time faculty members who teach the middle/high school. There are some full-time staff members, but in order to provide academic choice and a variety of different kinds of people to interact with students, qualified teachers like Gillespie are of significant benefit to a small community like Orcas. In high school, students have different classes and teachers all throughout the day.

Linda Gillespie has praise for Principal Barbara Kline for her “high expectations and support of students.” She will miss the staff and students, although she is looking forward to spending more time now in her garden, sewing, traveling, caring for her horses and visiting “the world’s greatest granddaughter.”