Whitewater Unified School District holds 2023 Retirement Dinner

By Kim McDarison 

Six retiring members of the Whitewater Unified School District, including five members of the district’s certified staff and a support staff member, were received Thursday by well-wishers and presented with certificates in recognition of their service.  

Also recognized were two board members each of whom had completed a final term in office in April. 

The program, which included dinner and celebratory cake, was held at the Willow Brook Golf Course clubhouse, Whitewater. 

Along with the retirees, among the 80 in attendance were family members, friends, board of education members and colleagues. 

Retirees and their guests were treated to a reception, followed by a program, during which four of the district’s five principals each presented a certificate of appreciation to retirees from within their respective buildings, and an additional token of appreciation in the form of a commemorative clock. Certificates were signed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill K. Underly. 

Exiting school board members received a certificate of commendation signed by Wisconsin Association of School Boards President Rosanne Hahn and the organization’s executive director John Ashley, and a commemorative clock. 

Those honored Thursday included Whitewater High School head cook Patty Germundson, who, according to the dinner’s printed program, has served within the district for 28 years; Washington Elementary School teachers Carol Weisbrod, serving 32 years and most recently teaching fifth grade, and Pamela Dennis, serving 26 years teaching multilingual learners; Diana Callope, serving 31 years as a Whitewater Middle School math teacher; Christine Hayes, serving 35 years as a Lincoln Elementary School music teacher, and Kelly Seichter, serving 13 years as the district’s director of instruction and curriculum. 

Exiting board of eduction members, having completed terms in April, included Steve Ryan, who, according to the event program, served on the board for 12 years, between 2011 and 2023, and Casey Judd, who served on the board for 13 years, between 2010 and 2023. 

In addition, retirees acknowledged in the printed program, but not in attendance Thursday, included district support staff members Carol Kuchan, serving 21 years at the Whitewater Middle School as a custodian, and Gary Hookstead, serving 26 years as a Whitewater High School study hall paraprofessional. 

Also honored during Thursday’s event was the late Kelley Marotta, a Washington Elementary School kindergarten teacher who served within the district for 31 years. Marotta died, according to her obituary, “following a brief illness,” in April. She was 56. The Janesville resident and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater graduate was remembered within Thursday’s program as a “kind, caring and patient” individual, who, as a bilingual speaker, worked with many of the district’s multilingual students. 

Opening the program and arriving at the podium, Whitewater Unified School District Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty introduced exiting school board member Steve Ryan. 

She thanked him for his service within the district. 

Responding to an audience member’s question, Ryan, a former Whitewater Middle School principal, said he had served within the field of public educational for 54 years, with 29 of them served in Whitewater. 

Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education President Larry Kachel next arrived at the podium to introduce exiting board member Casey Judd. 

“(Former school board member) Thayer (Coburn), Steve (Ryan) and I made it through Act 10 and COVID,” Judd told attendees after receiving his tokens of appreciation from Kachel. 

From the podium, Whitewater High School Principal Brent Mansky introduced Whitewater High School head cook Patty Germundson, who gave thanks for her tokens of appreciation. 

Washington Elementary School Principal Tom Grosinske introduced several retirees, beginning with the late Kelley Marotta, whom he described as “beloved by students and staff alike, and was well-known for her positive personality and absolute dedication to her students.” 

Marotta passed away unexpectedly resulting from a “heart event,” Grosinske said. 

He noted that a butterfly garden at Washington Elementary School undergoing a revitalization has been dedicated to the teacher, and is now known as the Kelley Marotta Pollination Garden. 

He next invited Carol Weisbrod to the podium, noting that she has taught, over the course of her career, grades 3-6, serving at both Lincoln and Washington elementary schools. 

He described her as “fun, witty, and completely dedicated to her craft.”

Grosinske noted that Weisbrod, in lieu of receiving a “retirement gift,” donated the funds to the Whitewater LEADS reading advocacy program in honor of Marotta. 

Addressing the audience, Weisbrod thanked members of her family and specifically her father, for his help, when, she said, “I decided to put canoes in the aquatic center because we were studying the fur trade, and fourth-graders in a canoe sounded great, with lifejackets and paddles. It was a great activity.”  

Describing her time spent at Lincoln and Washington elementary schools, she said she was “really thankful for my journey,” further noting that she was looking forward to “what’s ahead.” 

Grosinske asked Pam Dennis to join him at the podium, citing her as “playing a significant role in our achievement,” when, in 2017, he said, Washington Elementary School was designated a U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School for closing achievement gaps. 

“Her ML students were one of the groups highlighted in that achievement,” he said. 

He further described Dennis as “full of love and endless commitment for her students and coworkers.” 

In lieu of a retirement gift, Grosinske said, Dennis also had donated funds to Whitewater LEADS in honor of Marotta. 

Addressing attendees, Dennis said: “I’m going to start with a Grateful Dead quote: ‘What a long, strange trip it’s been.’”  

She described teaching as a “wonderful adventure,” which, she added, brought her the opportunity to “meet and teach people who come from all over the world.”  

She described herself in her ML teaching role as being “a human bridge between those two cultures.” 

Appearing at the podium, Whitewater Middle School Principal Chris Fountain was joined by Diana Callope. 

While serving in Whitewater, Fountain said, Callope had earned many awards. Among them he cited the 2015 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, which he described as “a big deal,” the 2014-15 Wisconsin Middle School Teacher of the Year, which, he said was “another big deal,” and 2014 Herb Kohl Foundation and Fellowship Award, which he also described as a “big deal.” 

After receiving tokens of appreciation, Callope said she was grateful for “all the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of working with or knowing through my kids going through school.” 

She offered thanks to Judd for his work while the district’s teachers grappled with changes brought about by Wisconsin Act 10.  

She described the district as “a great place to be.” 

Fountain said Callope had donated a retirement gift to the Family Emergency Fund. 

Kelly Seichter was next invited to the podium by Fountain, who described her as one who has “championed many different initiatives in addition to facilitating content teams.” 

Addressing the audience, Seichter, in describing the district’s administrative team, said there was “an electricity in the air,” which, she said, “has snapped, crackled and popped,” as the team worked on “great things. 

“I am in awe of the teaching staff of this school district,” she said. 

In retirement, she said she plans to do “whatever makes me happy.” 

Lincoln Elementary School Principal Brad Gefvert next came to the podium to present retiree Christine Hayes. 

“I can’t be more excited for Christine and the work that she’s done, and just how she inspires all students and staff as well with her love of music,” Gefvert said. 

With more than a 43-year teaching career, he said, Hayes has taught in every building within the Whitewater Unified School District with the exception of the high school. 

He cited numerous programs which she touched, including the Whitewater Unified School District Stings program. Lincoln Elementary K-5 general music, World Drumming, Mariachi Band, Middle School Seventh- and Eighth-grade Band, Jazz Band, sixth-grade general music, eighth-grade guitar class, Washington Elementary fifth- and sixth-grade bands, and Lakeview Elementary K-6 general music and 4-6 choir. 

Gefvert further noted Hayes’ many awards and honors earned while teaching within the Whitewater Unified School District, including the 2008 Herb Kohl Teacher’s Fellowship Award, the 2022 WMEA Michael G. George Distinguished Service Award, and the 2015 Young Auditorium Arts Advocacy Award. 

In addition, he cited Hayes as a past president and chairperson of several music educators organizations. 

Addressing her colleagues, Hayes said: “I cannot fathom a more beautiful career than I’ve been able to have because of the support that I’ve had over my past 35 years here.” 

She added: “You all have carried each other, and we have all carried these children.”

She said the work does not go unnoticed.  

“Thank you all for being an important part of our children’s lives,” she said.