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Maher retired—but not for long
By Sarah A. Wise
NL Staff Writer
23 August 2007 — Jessye Maher may have retired in May, but she has no intentions of sitting at home and taking it easy for the rest of her days.
Since the former third-grade teacher retired from Northwest Elementary School in June, Jessye said she’s found she has time to do the things that she wants to do. She and her husband Brian go swimming together in the mornings, and take walks when the weather isn't too hot. The two have also done a fair amount of traveling since Jessye has retired. They recently took a tour of Alaska, including a canoeing expedition and a ride on a dog sled. The Mahers are also planning a trip to Bermuda.
“I’ve got a lot of things I want to do,” said Jessye. She said she decided to retire now so she and her husband could take the time to enjoy those things sooner. But she said that knowing she wants to go back to teaching is motivating her to make the most of this time she’s taken off.
“I want to play hard. I need to go back so that I can play hard now,” she said. Knowing that retirement is, for now, just a temporary break makes her do more with each day.
Jessye is a native of Goldsboro, where she lives with her husband. They have two sons, Bill and Ben, who are both attending college. One of her sons is also considering a career as an educator, something that is a little surprising to her.
“He also is looking at going into the military, so we’ll see,” she said.
Her path to becoming a teacher, she said, was certainly not a direct one.
“There are those people who, ever since they were young, wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I was definitely not one of those people.”
Throughout college and after her graduation from East Carolina University, Jessye said she considered a number of different career paths, but nothing seemed to stick.
“I thought about business, or maybe geology,” she said. But a visit to her sister finally changed that.
Jessye’s sister was a teacher, and a visit to her third-grade classroom showed Jessye that she wanted to teach.
“I saw what she was able to do with those kids, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said. “It’s just one of those things that I instantly knew I had to do.”
She taught in Wayne County throughout her entire career, and has lots of good things to say about the system.
“I’ve met some really good friends here, and I’ve worked with a lot of really good people,” she said.
Jessye started her teaching career at Meadow Lane Elementary, where she did her student teaching. She then spent eight years at North Drive Elementary and 10 years at Carver Heights before returning to Meadow Lane. She stayed at Meadow Lane three years, and then moved on to Northwest Elementary, where she spent the last eight years of her career.
Like most elementary teachers, Jessye taught many different age levels and classes. She has taught kindergarten, as well as second through fourth grades. While at Northwest, she taught third grade.
Jessye said it is difficult for her to say which grade she enjoyed teaching the most, because each age group had its own benefits. She started her career teaching kindergarten, which she said she really enjoyed. When she was asked to move up to second grade, she begrudgingly agreed.
“I thought kindergarten was my favorite, but I kinda got forced into teaching second, and I found out I really liked that too.”
Though she has enjoyed all the grade levels she taught, Jessye said that teaching fourth grade was her least favorite – not because of the kids, but because of the curriculum.
In North Carolina, fourth grade is the first year that kids take a statewide writing test. Preparing her students for this test, Jessye said, she didn’t enjoy.
“I liked the maturity level of the kids at that age, but the writing I didn’t like,” she said. “They are just learning, and there’s so much volatility there. They do really well one day, and then they don’t the next.”
Because she enjoyed working with the older kids, Jessye said she would like to try teaching fifth or even sixth graders when she goes back to teaching.
“I’d like to try it, just to challenge myself, or to see if I like it,” she said.
She anticipates returning to the classroom after Christmas this year, if she finds a position that she’d like. She said she knew when she retired that she wasn’t through with teaching yet, but wanted to take a bit of a break.
“I think six months will probably be all the break that I need,” she said.
Back to this week's News Leader
Issue of 23 August 2007 Headlines Maher retired—but not for long Rawlings hopes to turn guns to cash Fremont's workers get overtime BBB warns against foreclosure 'rescue' scams Teaching Fellows applications now online AG Cooper's back to school tips Football preview: CBA offense returning to option Football preview: Falcon defense boasts strength up front, and in the secondary, too Football preview: CBA has strong replacements Suspects arrested in Stantonsburg shooting death Leaving for college? Be more wary of identity theft Wayne County Public Schools' tips for parents Lakeside Foods green bean recall
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