Veteran educator honored

In a profession in which accolades are few and far between, Mary Anne Rodgers earned a prestigious one.

Rodgers, an eighth-grade English language arts teacher at Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School, received a Kohl Teacher Fellowship this year.

The fellowship program “recognizes and supports teaching excellence and innovation” across Wisconsin, according to its website.

Two district teachers received fellowships at different points in their careers this year. Rodgers has been teaching for more than 30 years, while the other  recipient, high School social studies teacher Jordan Hoeppner, has taught for less than 10.

“I really feel validated in that it means good teacher doesn’t mean young teacher,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers grew up in Ohio around education. Her father was a teacher and family life was structured around the school calendar.

She said she always wanted to be a teacher and majored in journalism and education for her first two years at Bowling Green University. She planned to go to graduate school and had a full ride to Georgia University, but then she started student teaching to fulfill her education degree.

“The day I graduated I called and told Georgia I wasn’t coming,” she said.

Rodgers taught for several years in Ohio before coming to Cedar Grove, where her future husband lived. She has always taught middle school.

“Middle school kids bring to the table a lot of excitement. You can propose just about anything and they think it’s a great idea, and that’s really energizing for a teacher to get that response from students,” she said. “They’re still deciding who they want to be, and to try to speak into that is a great opportunity.”

Two of her former students turned out to be colleagues. Rose Janke teaches high school English language arts and Nicole Velzke teaches kindergarten in the district.

“It’s great because both of them are really quality teachers. It gives you a sense of pride that you in any way spoke into their love of school — not that I did it, but the school system — spoke to their lives well enough that they want to be an educator,” she said.

Educating became more difficult this spring when schools closed due to the coronavirus. Rodgers said switching to teaching online was made easier by the district’s commitment to technology the past several years.

“What has been difficult is it’s really not the same without seeing the students. That human interaction with students is priceless,” she said.

Rodgers looks forward to seeing her students again in fall.

“Cedar Grove has just been really good to me,” she said, citing the School Board, administration and parents’ support.

“Cedar Grove is a pretty rural, wholesome area to raise your children and families are supportive,” she said.

Schools of Kohl Fellowship winners receive $6,000, and the winners also get $6,000. Rodgers said she is interested in the mental health of teachers, especially the young ones, and may invest in that area.

“I think as education has become a more demanding field, young teachers and teachers in general are under a lot of stress. Teachers are very committed, and they keep going and going until they break,” she said.