Teacher begins 51st year at BHES
By HOLLY GASKILL
On her summer break, Mrs. Peggy Brooks has found herself back in school most days by 10 a.m.
She worked as a substitute for the summer school program at Bluffton-Harrison Elementary Schools, but she also never runs out of new projects for her class.
Looking around her classroom, Brooks pointed out a bulletin board she plans to redesign, a calendar project, and a group of clothespins strewn from the ceiling tiles and ready to display art from new students. She’s excited to begin working on a new classroom quilt, which she makes by having students decorate their own square patches.
She never tires of it all.
Every year is new. Every year is exciting.
And Mrs. Brooks has had 50 of them at Bluffton-Harrison schools.
Brooks landed in Bluffton as a fresh-faced recent graduate and newlywed in 1974. Her husband, Dave, had landed a job at the Huntington Herald-Press, and the couple looked for jobs within a 30-mile radius. Poplar Grove School in Bluffton was 28 miles away, she said.
That fall she started as a librarian, which was the perfect fit. Growing up the eldest of six children in Merrillville, Indiana, Brooks had always spent her time caring for her younger siblings or with her nose in a book. Sometimes at the same time.
“I was the kid that my mom always told me to stop reading and go play,” she said. “When everybody was born (they) had little bassinets, I could hook my foot on the bassinet and read and rock the baby.”
Brooks worked as a librarian for 34 years, through moving cities, her husband changing jobs, and having three children, Joseph, Juliette and Jared. “I loved it,” she smiled. “Loved the books, loved the kids, loved to encourage them to read.”
Even so, Brooks always hoped for her own classroom. She saw every student in the library, but only for an hour at a time. She wanted more time to build relationships and opportunities to see students grow and learn.
“I remember the day they came to the library and they said, ‘Come down to the office and talk to us,’” she recalled. “And so I walked in, and they go, ‘You have your wish.’ I go, ‘What’s my wish?’ And they go, ‘You wanted to be a classroom teacher — you are.’” She was placed in second grade.
Brooks said when she called her husband to tell him the news, Dave immediately went to yard sales to stockpile teaching supplies. The two were a package deal since they met the first weekend of college at Ball State.
Dave was her classroom’s personal shopper and helper until his passing in 2022. The two always had a coffee pot and donuts as they worked together in her room. “Even the day before he passed, he was sitting in that chair,” she said, pointing to her desk.
With 50 years in the school district now under her belt, there are more than a few things that have changed since she first started, including the school consolidating. Always with a love of learning, Brooks happily embraced these changes. “Oh, it’s great,” she said, before emphasizing how frustrating record players in the library could be. She also listed half a dozen iPad applications she likes to use in teaching. ParentSqaure, a communication app, has made parent sign-ups a breeze, Brooks said.
Brooks finds that students change far less in comparison, and she keeps up-to-date with their different interests too. Her collection of “Baby Yoda” related items possibly outnumbers her students — and continues to grow.
It’s not uncommon to run into a former student in public — a fourth grader in the aisles of Target, a salesman at Lowe’s, and now-superintendent Brad Yates, to name a few. “Oh my goodness, I love those connections,” Brooks shared. “It just makes my heart swell. I love them all.” It’s a special delight to tell her current students that she had their older siblings, parents, or aunts and uncles.
She also credits her fellow teachers and the BHMSD administration as part of the magic of these 50 years. Last year, the school celebrated Brooks’ accomplishment in a special program, first recognizing those who have taught there for five years, then 10 years, and so on.
“And then I’m sitting there thinking, I’m now (at) 50 (years). It’s going to say 50. It’s going to have my name 100 times,” Brooks recalled. “Like, I’m not going to, I’m not going up there. And Joey (Villanueva) goes, ‘I’ll walk you up there.’ My sister goes, ‘Pretend like you have a limp.’ And I go, ‘No! They’ll say I can’t teach if I have a limp!’”
While Brooks does not relish in public recognition, she acknowledged that the gesture made her feel very loved. The group works together like a family — helping each other work through new curriculum, giving words of encouragement on a rough day, and even standing by for emotional support during a reportedly intimidating interview with The News-Banner.
Now 24-years-old (she said), Brooks believes she’ll know when it’s time to retire, and that time simply hasn’t come.
Every year is new. Every year is exciting.
“One day, I was walking down the hall, and I go, ‘I don’t like my word wall.’ And Julie (Meitzler) goes, ‘Must not be time yet, right?’ Guess not,” she smiled.
holly@news-banner.com
