This year at Weedsport, students will be saying farewell to some of their favorite teachers and mentors as many of these people will retire when school ends for the summer. Some of these people include: Mrs. Widrick, Mr. Yorio, Mrs. James, Mrs. O’Connor and my very own fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Galka. After dedicating 33 years of her life to teaching, 29 of which were spent here at Weedsport, Mrs. Galka has decided that it’s finally time to retire and enjoy life at a slower pace. Mrs. Galka was a caring and motherly teacher to all of her students, and could always lend a helping hand whenever you needed one. Now a familiar face to many, it will be bittersweet to see one of Weedsport’s favorite teachers retire.

During her retirement, Mrs. Galka says she plans on taking some time to figure out what she wants to do, but knows that she wants to keep busy. “I’m not quite sure what I’m doing yet but I definitely want to find some part time work,” she says. “I even said I would sub here at Weedsport. I’m also on the board at Matthew House and we do a lot of volunteering, so between that and a small job I’d like to have some things to do.” In addition to these things, she says she’s also looking forward to being able to spend more time with her sons. “One’s in Rochester, which isn’t really that far away, but my other one just moved to Charleston, South Carolina so it’ll be nice to visit when we want and not be locked into school breaks and things like that.”

When asked what made her decide to retire now, Mrs. Galka responded with, “I think it’s come down to 33 years of doing the same thing. I’ve loved my career here and have always wanted to be a teacher, but I think after 33 years of anything, you’re just ready for a change.” Mrs. Galka also states that she feels she’s in a good place to retire and will be leaving Weedsport more than content. “I love the people I work with and it’s a great school district, so I feel I’m in a good place. I know I can still come back and sub, see my friends here and the kids, so I’m happy. Some people get to the point where they’re grouchy when they retire but I’m just not, I’m still happy.”

Going back to the beginning of her career, I asked Mrs. Galka what made her think she wanted to teach elementary school. With a straightforward answer she stated, “It was just something I always knew I wanted to do. I never really thought of anything different besides social work, but I wanted something with people. I’m a people person and I enjoy being with kids.” Mrs. Galka added an interesting remark to this when she said, “That’s what’s the challenge for me now that I’m retiring. Teaching has always defined me and who I am so I often think, ‘What am I next?’ Teaching was always what I wanted so it’s funny to think of that.”

Mrs. Galka also had quite the story when it came to getting her job here at Weedsport. “I really wanted Weedsport right from the beginning knowing that it was a close district, so I actually ended up applying for a kindergarten position but didn’t get it.” she said. “I came back though! I interviewed again and that’s when I got chosen for the fifth grade position. Five of us were actually hired that year. You always heard good things about Weedsport and it may have taken me two tries but I got that position!”

Mrs. Galka says that thinking of her previous students and seeing them later on are the two most memorable things about her job. “It was funny. One of the students from the very first class I taught here at Weedsport posted a picture on Facebook of their fifth grade class with me. It’s neat to see the kids now as adults. Certainly I have memories from specific groups of kids but I really like seeing who they were as fifth graders versus who they are now as successful adults.” She also added that it’s interesting to see how methods of teaching have changed over the years. “I remember teaching reading and the kids would dress up and act out little plays or do something like that to go along with the story. Little things like that are neat to look back on.”

After teaching fifth grade for 29 years I thought it’d be interesting to hear how Mrs. Galka managed to stay sane during her career since kids can be pretty hard to handle. Her response was simple. “I put out my expectations right in the beginning and let the kids know that I trust they’ll follow the rules and that I believe in them. We respect each other and as long as you do what you’re asked, everything will be fine. You just have to set high expectations and hopefully the kids will rise to them. But if they do do something wrong you just have to help them realize they should’ve made a better choice and think about what they could’ve done better.” Humorously she added, “I did have one year where I thought the kids were going to do me in but otherwise we’re really lucky here in Weedsport since we have a lot of good kids.”

Lastly, Mrs. Galka said that if she could give one piece of advice to a senior who is about to graduate and begin the rest of their life, it would be to believe in themselves. “I can remember when I wanted to be a teacher, it was a time when there were so many people wanting to do the same thing as me. People said that I’d never get a job and wouldn’t be able to make an income but it just so happens that I’ve had a long and enjoyable career. Truly, if you have something that you want to do, go for it. Make it happen. But whatever you pick, you want to be happy. Just don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Sometimes it takes work, but you’ll get there.”

With her retirement, Mrs. Galka will surely be missed by staff and students alike throughout Weedsport’s schools, yet we will more than likely see her face on a few occasions in our hallways. Mrs. Galka has had a long and memorable career in teaching and is ready to begin a new chapter in the story of her life. No matter what she does, we all wish Mrs. Galka nothing but the best during her retirement and know that she will be happy when she leaves the district.

“I’m very thankful for the career I had, I’ve been very fortunate. I have a lot of friends that teach and people would always say, ‘Oh, you work in Weedsport? What a great district!’ I always felt proud to say that I worked in Weedsport because you always hear such great things. But that’s the one thing, whenever I said where I taught, I always was proud to say, ‘I’m a Weedsport teacher.’”