‘Let’s go play school’

After a teaching career of more than 40 years — one she says has seldom felt like work — Tammie Cass will retire from Nodaway Valley at the end of this school year.

Cass, who currently teaches sixth-grade math and other subjects, said retirement is not about disliking what she does. It is simply time for another journey to begin.

“This is very bittersweet because I still love doing what I do — I love being with the kids, teaching the kids, finding new ways to teach a lesson, being creative, finding fun things for them to do or fun ways for them to learn things. I think mostly I’m just kind of tired,” Cass said. “I think it’s just time for me to start that next journey.”

When she graduated from high school, the “last thing on earth” Cass wanted to do was teach. That changed partway through her college career, though. She began spending her summers with her mom at Lincoln Elementary School in Atlantic, where her mother was a longtime secretary. Cass became hooked on making bulletin boards, being creative and carrying out various school-related tasks alongside her mom. Cass later graduated with an education degree from Northwest Missouri State University.

Cass made her first teaching stop in Fontanelle, where she now finishes her career. She taught special education for Bridgewater-Fontanelle before transitioning to Cumberland-Massena, where she taught a variety of middle school-level subjects for 11 years.

“There’s just not too many things I haven’t taught, to be quite honest,” Cass said. “I’ve really only taught science for about one year, and that was enough.”

After four years away from the classroom, when she was an in-home daycare provider while her children were young, Cass began teaching sixth grade at Nodaway Valley in 2000 — the first year it was known as Nodaway Valley.

“I love the small districts. I like knowing my students, knowing their parents, their families, working closely with everybody,” Cass said. “I truly believe that at this age level, it takes all three — the students, the parents and the teacher — to make things work and click. That’s so important, and I’ve enjoyed that part of being in a small community.”

Cass does not have any special traditions with the generations of students she has taught, but she believes in being innovative and keeping the classroom a fresh experience, not only for herself but also for her students.

“I’ll come up with different ideas or reward things, different ways of teaching a concept that maybe we haven’t done before. I’m always trying to improve what I’m doing,” she said. “That makes it better for me and for the kids. I think that’s why I’m still at it, because it’s changing and I’ve had to change with it. If you get stuck in it, then it’s not fun for me. I say this all the time: I don’t ever go to work, I go play school. It just goes back to being a child and playing school when I was a kid, and it’s still what I do.”

With Mother’s Day this weekend, Cass’ daughter, Kelsie Kralik, a title reading teacher at Schuler Elementary School in Atlantic, said her mom inspires her in what she does. Her mother-in-law, Janelle, of Orient, is a retired teacher as well.

“From a young age, I watched my mom pour her heart and soul into her students. I spent summers and weekends in her classroom and I remember staying up late to grade papers and enter scores,” Kralik said. “But what stood out most was the way her eyes lit up when a struggling student finally mastered something new. I saw how deeply she cared for them as if they were her own. She inspired me to make a difference in the lives of others and showed me that teachers are superheroes — and who wouldn’t want to grow up to be one?”

There have been countless individuals who have encouraged Cass throughout the years in her calling. She earned her master’s degree partway through her career from the University of Northern Iowa, participated in many continuing education opportunities and encouraged others along the way.

“I’m so thankful that I’ve gotten to teach and made such good lifelong friends with staff, administration, parents and families in Greenfield, Fontanelle, Bridgewater, Massena, Anita, Cumberland — all over, you know,” Cass said. “I just have been very fortunate to have great people to work with.”