Picture this: A classroom full of half asleep students listening to the teacher drone on about where to place commas and semicolons. Sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it?

Now picture this: Students being rewarded for good work instead of being punished for bad. Living in a real world and being treated like a real adult. Receiving money for outstanding citizenship. Welcome to the classroom of Brenda Croy.

“She’s always been a highly valued member of the English faculty,” Bob Donaldson, principal, said. Croy stated that many of her students presented no interest in English whatsoever.

Her job? To motivate. “I give them a debit card at the beginning of every quarter,” Croy said with a smile.

Each card contained $100, or rather, five punches. Each time a student broke a rule, Croy punched the card. At the end of each semester, if a student possessed $40, Croy presented them with exemption from the semester final.

“It really motivates them,” she said. “Also, I will hand out Mrs. Croy dollars when they’re on task.”

She stated that by seeing other students rewarded, everyone worked harder to reach his or her full potential and that she possessed virtually no discipline problems. Also to keep students interested, Croy assigned no essays; just projects applicable to preparation for after-high school life.

“She spent numerous hours designing the projects her students did, and always gave the projects a connection to the real work world,” said Pam Moore, English teacher and close friend of Croy.

Another real world application dealt with Croy’s mentor position with the school district. Mary Ann Funk, librarian, stated that she worked with new teachers to help them adjust to their new careers as educators.

“I was the coordinator of the teacher support program,” Croy said. She stated that she worked with new teacher mentors for six years to five them a strong start and lasting support.

Besides mentoring and teaching, Croy worked as a nurse. “She’s not afraid to switch careers; she was a nurse for many years,” said Funk.

However, Croy stated that the monotony of nursing for over 12 years led her back to school to study education. Croy debated whether to pursue secondary or elementary education. She chose to major in secondary education because of the limitless possibilities with an English major. She said, “I love literature, I love grammar… and I love kids.”

Aside from just teaching, though, Croy involved herself with other hobbies. “I’m known for my scrapbooking,” Croy said happily. She just recently finished a wedding scrapbook for her son and daughter-in-law.

Moore stated that Croy also designed greeting cards using scrapbook techniques. “She also enjoys decorating her home and yard,” she said.

“She is a very talented, artistic individual,” Funk said. “She is creative in her thinking and her production.”

Croy and her husband, Butch, raised four children: Kevin, Traci, Summer and Shane. This made Croy a grandmother of seven, named Noah, Joshua, Sierra, Jaden, Laney and Chloe.

Two of her granddaughters live in the valley, and she hopes to spend more time with them during her retirement.

“I’m ready,” Croy said of retiring. Her plans involved more traveling and some sort of part time job later. She joked about how her shopping temptations made her husband wary of letting her work in retail. However, she pushed her ideas for working part time aside as she focused on saying her final goodbyes.

“I’m really going to miss everyone here; it’s the hardest part of retiring,” she said. “This is family to me.”

As Croy packs up and says goodbye, she leaves behind a legacy and a gap hard to fill. She leaves behind the classroom that she transformed into a home for 19 years. As her good friend Moore said, “She will be missed.”

Caitie Hites
-News Editor