By Dixon Land
Leader staff
Nashville Primary School recorded nine retirements this year, as the school year wound down in June.
Linda Plant, Phyllis Blanchard, Dena Pinkerton, Karen Teeter, Stacy Bright, Linda Hallmark, Pam Wynn, Sharyn Young and Sarah Turner recorded their last day of school a little over a month ago.
Shirley Wright, principal of Nashville Primary School, said that their experience and ability would be severely missed this fall as the school begins another year.
Linda Plant, a 21-year veteran of the Nashville Primary School, has taught in kindergarten, first and third grade. She had spent her entire career teaching at Nashville in the primary school.
“My years at primary have made me part of a family, and I’ve also enjoyed watching many students bloom,” Plant said last month.
Sarah Turner, the most tenured teacher in the group, leads a class of teachers with 288 combined years of service, culminating in a 32-year average.
Turner served in multiple school districts throughout the southwest United States, including many in Arkansas, where she has served as a counselor, assistant principal, adjunct teacher, as well as serving as a teacher in multiple grades over her 43 years of experience in education. For the last five years, Turner served as the kindergarten and first grade guidance counselor.
Nashville Primary will also be missing a familiar face in the school’s office this fall, as 24-year secretary Phyllis Blanchard retired.
“I’ve enjoyed working with all of the staff and with the students and I’ll miss them all so much next fall,” Blanchard said.
Dena Pinkerton and Karen Teeter both retire with 28 years experience in education. Teeter, who has taught in four different school systems, taught her last nine years with Nashville. Pinkerton has taught first grade students at Nashville for 22 of her 28 years experience.
“The best thing about working at Nashville Primary has been all the wonderful staff members that we have here and the students I’ve taught,” Pinkerton said.
“My favorite part of working with these kids is that they love you no matter what,” added Teeter. “They have an innocence about them, and working with them is much easier and they are really receptive to learning.”
Pam Wynn, a 40-year educator, has taught kindergarten her entire tenure. In her experience, Wynn worked in three school districts.
Stacy Bright, a 29-year teacher has taught pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. She is ending her time with Nashville Primary to become a full-time farmer.
Sharyn Young had 36 years of teaching.
The final teacher ending her career at Nashville Primary is Linda Halmark. She is a 38-year veteran in education.
“I’ve enjoyed working with our staff and all of of our students and they bring joy to each and every day,” Hallmark said.
