This is the second story illustrating the experience of Edison Elementary School staff retirees for this year who’ve served in Danville District 118 for 20 years or more.

Janice Mann

Janice Mann said it would take fewer than her 10 fingers to count the number of days she’s not been excited to jump out of bed and go to work every day.

Mann has taught kindergarten all of her 35 years with the District 118. She couldn’t wait for the new year to start when she anticipated all the exciting activities she’d get to do with students.

“I’m like a little kid,” she said. “It’s so exciting to think that you’re going to start a brand-new year.

“The children come in and they learn an unbelievable amount of information.”

Mann plans to continue teaching.

“I’m not retiring from teaching — just from being on District 118’s payroll,” she said.

Mann has noted many changes in education in her tenure. One of the key changes has been the change from half-day to full-day kindergarten.

These days, she said, kindergarteners are expected to do much more with their time than they were years ago.

Curricular areas are more comprehensive, yet five-year-olds still have to learn other classroom readiness skills as well, she said.

She recalled during her last weeks as a teacher one of the biggest lessons kids have taught her: that simple things in life make up its richness.

Her students were so excited when the found a butterfly on the playground, she said.

“If you stop and take the time, life can be an exiting journey,” she said, of the lessons the little kids impart to her.

She hopes her students had as much fun as she did every year.

“(I hope they) remember than kindergarten was the business and happiest place they ever visited. I hope every one of them remembers that,” she said. “And a place that someone wanted to them to do the best they could in life.”

Mann and her husband are avid Chicago Cubs fans who will attend more games in the future. They’ll also visit more often with their son and grandson.

Vicki Hendrickson

As the school secretary at Edison, Vicki Hendrickson had plenty of responsibility.

Every day in an elementary school is different, and some days seem even more unpredictable than others.

For those who plan to work in a school, she advises them to just “go with the flow.”

“Just relax and enjoy the ride,” she said. “Sometimes … all we do is just bat balls as they come at us. No two days are exactly alike and that is what makes it exciting.”

Hendrickson said she will miss seeing all the kids every day, but a different set of kids will now have her undivided attention: her five grandchildren.

Hendrickson and her husband have two children — one in West Lebanon, Ind. and one in Idaho.

The couple will spend a couple months in Florida next year.



EDISON RETIREES

Name: Janice Mann, kindergarten teacher; 35 years of service to the district

Age: 61

Education: St. Paul’s Junior College, Concordia, Mo.: associate’s degree, 1967; Concordia University, Seward, Neb.: 1975; Eastern Illinois University: master’s degree, 2001

Experience: 1967-70: taught in Danville Lutheran School; 1972-74: teaching assistant in District 118; after receiving her teaching degree, she taught at Fairchild Elementary School until its closure in 1983 and Edison from 1983 to 2009. She taught second, third and fourth grades at DLS and kindergarten during her entire tenure in District 118.

Name: Vicki Hendrickson, administrative assistant, 28 years of service to the district

Age: 60

Education: Danville High School, class of 1966

Experience: 25 years at Edison; also worked in the Jackson Building human resources office and district bus garage