Duneland School Corporation Honors Teacher and Staff Retirees at Reception

DSC-honors-teacher-and-staff-retirees-at-reception-02The Duneland School Corporation honored retiring teachers and support staff this past Wednesday at a special reception celebration at the Duneland Administration Center.

Retiring Duneland teachers and support staff will have a combined total of 333 years of service at the end of this school year. The following retirees honored were: Pamela Adamik, art teacher at Yost Elementary; Joseph Bennett, sixth grade teacher at Westchester Intermediate School; Greg Burns, head custodian at Yost Elementary; Linda Curry, social studies teacher at Chesterton High School; Linda Didelot, math teacher at Chesterton Middle School; Bonnie Dooley, bus driver; Gloria Guerrero, DSC home advisor; Sandra Hutson, bus driver; Carol Leady, grounds/maintenance; Delene McGowan, CHS secretary; Deborah Pope, fourth grade teacher at Jackson Elementary; Sue Rippe, nurse at Liberty Intermediate; Mimi Schumacher, first grade teacher at Brummitt Elementary and Stephanie Strawbridge, second grade teacher at Bailly Elementary.

Pamela Adamik
Pam received her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in 1978. She started her career in Menomonee Falls, WI as a middle school art teacher. She went on to teach at Edison Jr-Sr. High in Lake Station and also New Prairie Jr. High. She joined Duneland in 1996 for one semester then joined us full time in 1998. She also teaching at Brummitt, Liberty Elem., and Bailly and finished at Yost from 1999 until present.

Joseph Bennett
Joe has been with Duneland for 28 years. He has 13 previous years with other school systems. Joe attended Purdue University where he received his graduate degree in education administration. He first taught at both the elementary and middle school level in Dyer, Portage and Valparaiso. In 1982, he became a principal in Union Twp. Joe joined Duneland in 1987 as principal at Brummitt Elem. In 1994, Joe decided he went back to classroom teaching at WIS until present.

Greg Burns
Greg has worked for the Duneland Schools for 30 years. In 1984, he began working at Brummitt as a night custodian and transferred to Grounds in 1990. In 2003 he left Duneland, but returned to Grounds in 2005. He was transferred to Yost Elementary as head custodian in 2013 until present.

Linda Curry
Linda received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University Northwest. She began her teaching career at the Duneland School Corporation as a Chesterton High School Social Studies teacher. She has been at CHS for 21 years.

Linda Didelot
Linda received her undergraduate degree from Ball State University and her graduate degree from Purdue University. Linda initially worked for the Duneland Schools as a substitute teacher. She was hired as a teacher at Liberty Middle School in 1992. After nine years, she moved to Chesterton Middle School to teach Math.

Bonnie Dooley
Bonnie was a substitute bus driver for Duneland School Corporation for two years before being awarded a contract bus driver position in 1992. Bonnie spent the next 23 years driving Special Needs routes. There is a cliché that says, “It takes a special person to drive a special needs route,” and Bonnie is definitely one of those “special” people. Bonnie has had an excellent performance and attendance record with Duneland Schools and has repeatedly volunteered over the years for "Rebuilding Together-Duneland.”

Gloria Guerrero
Gloria has worked for the Duneland Schools for 24 years. Gloria received her Bachelors in Sociology and her Masters in Social Work from Indiana University Northwest. She began her career at Duneland Schools as the Coordinator for the Student-At-Risk Program. In 1995, she became the District Director of Attendance where she remained for nine years before becoming the District Director of the Positive Life Program. Since 2010, she has served the Duneland Schools as a Home School Advisor. Throughout her time at Duneland, she said that she had the opportunity and privilege of working with many wonderful individuals.

Sandra “Sam” Hutson
Sam has worked for Duneland School Corporation for 20.5 years. She was first employed as a bus driver from 1985-1990. She then left Duneland to help her husband full time with their surveying business. In 1999, she returned as a contracted bus driver and remained in that position until December 2014 when she retired. For the last 13 plus years she has been assigned a bus route based out of Brummitt Elementary School. Sam took pride in knowing each and every child that she transported and always referred to them as "My Kids."

DSC-honors-teacher-and-staff-retirees-at-reception-01Carol Leady
Carol has worked for the Duneland Schools for 24 years.

She began her career at Duneland as a custodian at Brummitt in 1990. In 1997, she joined the Grounds/Maintenance crew until she retired in December of 2014.

Del McGowan
Del has worked for the Duneland Schools for 20 years.

She began her career at Duneland in 1995 as a secretary in the Chesterton High School Library Media Center. In 1996 she transferred to the Assistant Principals’ Office at CHS. Del plans to travel and live in the Southwest during the winter months.

Deborah Pope
Debbie received her undergraduate degree from Ball State. She went on to receive her graduate degree from Valparaiso University. Her first teaching experience began here with Duneland. She taught Communications at Liberty Middle School and then moved to Jackson and has taught 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. She has been with Duneland for 41 years.

Sue Rippe
Sue has worked for Duneland Schools for 12 years as a nurse. After becoming an EMT, Sue went to Ivy Tech and received her LPN degree and worked in the private practice sector with clinics for over 25 years. She started working for Duneland in 2003 as a nurse at CHS. After four years, she transitioned to serve at both LES and LIS for one year. Her last eight years have been spent exclusively at LIS. She says that she will truly miss the kiddos!

Mimi Schumacher
Mimi received her undergraduate degree from Indiana State and her graduate degree from Indiana Wesleyan. For several years after graduation, she substituted at various Porter County schools before coming to Duneland Schools to teach at Brummitt Elementary. She taught third grade her very first year and then moved to first grade to teach for the remainder of her career.

Stephanie Strawbridge
Stephanie received both her undergraduate and graduate degree from Western Michigan University. Stephanie taught 17 years before coming to Duneland Schools. She taught first and second grade, did computer instruction and then was the gifted/talented teacher coordinator. Stephanie joined the Duneland Schools working as a substitute teacher and a Prime Time aide. In 1993, she began teaching fourth grade at Bailly Elementary. She also taught fifth grade for one year and then moved to second grade.