By MIKE McCLEARY, Bismarck Tribune
By MIKE McCLEARY
Bismarck Tribune
"I will always be ready to teach, if you are ready to learn."
That's Anne Vadnie's motto.
After 33 years as a physical education and English teacher
at Wachter Middle School in Bismarck, Vadnie has taught
roughly 4,830 students.
Even as she is set to retire at the end of the school year,
Vadnie is still passionate about learning. "I always tell the kids, you should thirst for knowledge."
The 56-year-old Bismarck High School grad said she's not
sure what she will do for a new job, but she says she's
too young to quit working.
"
I tell the kids I feel like a teenager; I don't know what
I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I just didn't
want to be one of those teachers that stayed too long."
Vadnie's is most proud of creating the annual Shakespeare
Festival for the ninth-grade students 17 years ago. "I like to lead them through that first experience. It's a joy to see that light
bulb turn on."
"I appreciate the other ninth-grade teachers embracing it to make it come alive
for the kids."
As she nears the final days of teaching this week, Vadnie is confident she has
prepared her students for high school.
I'm demanding, I'm tenacious and I think my class structure helps the students
be successful.
"
But it's just time for me to move on."
Anne Vadnie, a ninth-grade English teacher at Wachter Middle School, lectures to an afternoon class as they interpret the classic novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. Vadnie is retiring this year after spending all 33 years at the Bismarck middle school. Always eager to learn, Vadnie is looking forward to another challenge. "It's just time for me to move on. Maybe I'll a different level of teaching. Maybe I'll try something more relaxing. "
What is "Neighbors?"
We all have them. Maybe they are just a peek over the back yard fence or on the other side of the pasture or wheat field.
They are everyday people on the surface, but underneath they possess a unique quality. They may even participate in celebrations, rituals or traditions that are significant to a community or family.
Each month a Tribune photographer will document these unique circumstances and people to offer a brief glimpse of what makes them your neighbors.
Other Neighbors
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Anne Vadnie, center, sits among the other teachers in the ninth-grade pod, as they collaborate during a daily prep period. Vadnie believes the school districtÃs move to the middle school philosophy in 1991 helped save her career. It allowed the teachers to better communicate with each other and create effective ways to manage the students and curriculum.
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Positive statements cover the walls and door in Anne Vadnie's classroom as a constant reminder for her and the students to stay on track and to learn more, be more responsible with a good attitude.
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Each day in class Anne Vadnie stresses to her ninth-grade English students to always learn something. "The more you know about something, the more meaningful it is."
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Anne Vadnie uses a power point presentation to help the students understand the classic Charles Dickens novel "Great Expectations" during a class lecture.
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Anne Vadnie talks with a colleague in the hallway during a brief class period break as students rush to their next class
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Anne Vadnie likes the ninth-grade curriculum with its emphasis on Shakespeare and classic novels. Here she helps explain some of the character developments in "Great Expectations."
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Anne Vadnie has found through the years that each classroom of students has its own personality.This year especially she appreciated the students and their attitude and outlook for "picking her up."
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Anne Vadnie believes 100 percent that the hardest aspect for a new teacher is class management. It's hard to manage time, the classroom and the students.
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Anne Vadnie talks with a group of students in the hallway during a class break. Vadnie is passionate about learning and tries to pass that passion onto her students.
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Anne Vadnie states that if someone were to walk into her classroom unannounced to observe, they would find the students are always learning and she doesn't hand out "busy work."
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Anne Vadnie teaches detailed components of the philosophy "You are the Author of Your Own Life's Story." She talks to the students about being good and responsible people with positive attitudes.