Oak Park staff retiring

S SOPHIA FISCHER/Acorn Newspapers Six longtime Oak Park Unified School District staff members are retiring.

Those leaving are Brookside fifth-grade teacher Mary Jane Weaver and kindergarten teachers Lillie Babrowski and Kathy Rogers; Oak Park High history teacher Jim Johnson; Red Oak Elementary head maintenance worker Dennis Wiley; and district office director of accounting and risk management Donna Ledferd.

They, along with Oak Park High School Principal Lynn McCormack, who announced her retirement last month, will be honored at a staff reception on Mon., June 2. Brookside will honor Weaver, Babrowski and Rogers at a celebration for all former and current students, parents and teachers from 4 to 6 p.m. Fri., June 6 in the school's multipurpose room.

"Each of our retirees has dedicated his or her life to education, and we are fortunate that these individuals chose to do so in Oak Park," Superintendent Tony Knight said. "Each has touched the lives of Oak Park children in a special way."

Due to the state budget cuts, none of the teachers will be replaced, Knight said.

After teaching at 61st Street School in Los Angeles, Mary Jane Weaver came to Brookside in 1977 as a guest teacher for Karolyn Tassio. Weaver has taught second, fifth and sixth grades, as well as a fourth/fifth combination and eighth-grade history. The Agoura Hills resident took time off and job-shared when her son and daughter were born. Both children attended Oak Park schools, and now Weaver's granddaughter, Taylor Jane, is in Brookside's kindergarten.

"I love everything about being a teacher- spending the day with kids, creating lessons and developing friendships with parents," said Weaver, 63. "I enjoy working with respected colleagues and have become lifelong friends with many of them."

Weaver's retirement plans include guest teaching at Brookside, traveling, reading, shopping and spending time with family, friends, and her husband of 40 years.

"I would like people to know that my life is rich because of having had the chance to work with and get to know so many special people in Oak Park," Weaver said. "I have boxes of treasured notes, scrapbooks and other gifts that I've received through the years and have memories to last a lifetime."

Kathy Rogers began teaching in 1974 at North Hollywood High School. In 1979 she began teaching art and home economics at Oak Park High and Medea Creek Middle School.

When home economics was eliminated in 1990, Rogers transferred to Brookside to teach kindergarten and fourth grade.

After retiring, Rogers will continue to serve as president of the California Art Education Association and will work as a parttime art consultant. An Oak Park resident, Rogers recalls many special moments with students.

"Three years ago I met a former student, whom I had taught at OPHS. She said that I had inspired her to continue her education and to become an art educator," said Rogers, 61. "Teaching has been a wonderful career in so many ways."

Lillie Babrowski was hired by Oak Park in 1980 after substitute teaching on a regular basis. The Thousand Oaks resident began her career at Cypress Elementary in Newbury Park and took time off to raise her daughter. She taught first grade for six years and kindergarten for 32.

"I've had many memorable moments, but the 'aha' moment when a child realizes that they can read is always a moment to remember," said Babrowski, 64.

In retirement Babrowski plans to travel, garden, spend time with family and friends, and volunteer in Brookside's kindergarten classrooms.

Jim Johnson jokes that he's taught for so long that former students scuh as Todd Creason and Eric Pryor now teach alongside him. Johnson joined Oak Park in 1979, first teaching Brookside's fifth grade, moving to the high school once it was built in the early 1980s. His responsibilities included teaching social science, government and economics, and coaching track and cross country.

"At the beginning, everyone wore six different hats," said Johnson, 61. "Students, parents, faculty were all one big family because we were building the place together."

Staying in Oak Park for nearly 30 years was easy, Johnson said.

"It's a class act, a high caliber group of people, from the teachers to the administrators and classified employees," Johnson said.

The Ventura resident will teach part-time- just Oak Park's AP History class- visit family on the East Coast and his two children in Hawaii, and this summer he will tour Alaska, the only state he has not yet visited.

His wife, Kimberly Johnson, teaches eighth-grade history at Medea Creek, where his stepdaughter is in sixth grade.

Donna Ledferd has worked at the district office for more than 29 years, first as an accounting technician and now as director of accounting and risk management. She oversees accounts payable, payroll, budget and worker's compensation.

"It's been interesting- because we're a small district, I've been able to be part of so many different things," Ledferd said.

The Simi Valley resident is looking forward to spending time with her mother in Coarsegold, Calif., and her horse.

"I will miss the people I work with very much," Ledferd said. "It's been a very nice place to work."

Dennis Wiley, 62, has worked at Red Oak for nearly 15 years, starting there shortly after the school opened.

"It's been like a big family here. The kids, teachers and parents are so great," Wiley said.