Teachers, staff applauded for extraordinary dedication

EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATORS—Seventy-five employees who've worked in the Las Virgenes Unified School District for 15, 20, 30, 35 and 40 years are honored for their service to the district. Three teachers recognized for 35 years of service are, from left, Susan Geiger (A.E. Wright Middle School), Rick Nathanson (Calabasas High School) and Nancy Denison (Lupin Hill Elementary School). Ronald Thomas, not pictured, was also honored for 35 years of service. STEPHANIE BERTHOLDO Acorn Newspapers When Nancy Denison launched her career with the Las Virgenes Unified School District in 1971, Richard Nixon was president, Intel’s microprocessor was introduced, a stamp cost 6 cents and rocker Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at the age of 27.

Denison and 75 other veteran teachers and employees were among a roomful of educators honored by the district for their extraordinary service spanning from 15 to 40 years.

Dan Stepenosky, assistant superintendent of personnel, peppered his introductions of the honorees with facts about the year each person started with the district.

In 1971, he said, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that busing students was a means to achieve racial desegregation. Four teachers who started in 1971 were honored for 35 years of service, including Denison, Susan Geiger, Rick Nathanson and Ronald Thomas. Stepenosky added interesting personal facts about each teacher in this category, gleaning information from questionnaires they had been asked to complete.

Thirty-five years ago, Denison, a fifth-grade teacher at Lupin Hill Elementary School in Calabasas, dreamed of being an interior decorator. Now, she said, her greatest challenge is “working with children who don’t stop talking.”

Nathanson, now a baseball coach and English teacher at Calabasas High School, remembers his first day teaching at Agoura High School. He said two memories stand out; the first was greeting his first student at Agoura High School. The student went on to become one of his best friends, he said.

Nathanson’s second fondest memory, he wrote, was “watching Josh Morton’s seventh-inning home run sail over the fence to give Calabasas High School—and me—its first baseball championship, the first of seven Frontier League titles, in 1993.”

Geiger, a language arts and social studies teacher at A.E. Wright Middle School, said in her questionnaire that she had always wanted to be a teacher. “I’m blessed with friends, family, dogs and a job I’ve loved for 35 years,” Geiger wrote.

Thirteen employees were honored for 30 years of service. According to Stepenosky, the median household income in 1977 was $12,686, Viking I landed on Mars, and the most popular movies of the year were “Rocky” and “All the President’s Men.”

Six employees were recognized for their 25 years of service. They heard that 1981, the year they started, was a banner year for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The baseball team defeated rivals New York Yankees 4-2. In science, acquired immune deficiency syndrome was first identified. In entertainment, Pacman-mania swept the country.

Twentyyear honor recipients in the district totaled 30. Stepenosky reminded these employees that in 1986, Nintendo video games were introduced in the United States, and the space shuttle Challenger exploded after its launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla., killing the seven astronauts aboard.

By 1991, the median household income had jumped to $30,126, and the song of the year was Bette Midler’s “From a Distance.” A cease-fire on April 3, 1991, ended the Gulf War.

Tying history, memories and the day-to-day work of education together, Superintendent Sandra Smyser said, “So much of what you’ve accomplished is invisible. It lives and breathes in the kids you’ve taught.”