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Retiring — when most of us hear that word, we think of people no longer working who have all moved down to Florida to relax, eat and sit around all day. But in the case of this year’s retiring teachers in the West Salem School District, that could be nothing further from the truth.

As the 2007-8 school year ended, five teachers with a combined 113 years of service to the district ended their careers at West Salem. The five include Jeff James, Marty Olson, Jacqueline Strutt, Terry Pudenz and Lynda Fernholz.

James, who has been working as a middle school band director for 32 years — 31 of them at West Salem — began at West Salem on Aug. 15, 1981. As a band director, he has enjoyed how each day brings new challenges and keeps things interesting.

“This has never been a ‘job’ for me,” said James, “because I enjoy what I do and the people I do it with.”

He said he has especially enjoyed starting students in instrumental music and watching them learn and experience success.

Olson was hired on Aug. 1, 1975, as the district-wide health teacher, including the country schools. He also spent 10 years as the high school athletic director. He decided that teaching was the job for him because he knew it was a job he could do well and enjoy. And that’s what he’s been doing, in addition to serving as athletic director, for the past 36 years, 33 of which have been at West Salem.

He has, of course, made a lot of memories during those 36 years of teaching. One he commented on was when he was a pitcher in senior physical education and got “nailed by a line drive in a somewhat delicate area of my body.”

Olson’s favorite part of his job was the daily contact he had with his students, and that’s also what he will miss most about his job. Some things he won’t miss are being restricted to vacation times and most of the in-service days and meetings.

But unlike some of the other retirees, Olson isn’t really “retiring;” he likes to call it more of a “job change.” He will operate his business called Mr. O’s Custom Woodworking and Restoration. Owning his own business will allow him to vacation whenever he wants and be a little more relaxed.

Strutt has been working as a health/physical education teacher for 32 years — 31 of which have been at West Salem. She has also coached volleyball, gymnastics and track. Four of her gymnastics teams went to state, and some of her individual athletes became state champions as well. As pep club advisor for many years, Strutt has also had the pleasure of organizing homecoming and watching it go from late-night bonfires to Wacky Wednesdays and teacher skits.

Her favorite aspect about teaching is being around young people and watching them grow and mature. She won’t, however, miss being “regulated by bells” and waking up at 6 a.m. every morning.

Strutt plans to continue to do more traveling, judge gymnastics meets, teach ski lessons at Mount La Crosse, teach adult dance lessons and spend more time with her family and at her church.

Pudenz was hired on Sept. 6, 1977, as a third-grade teacher. Five and a half years later, she switched from third grade and taught fifth grade for six years before changing back to third grade for the remainder of her 36 and a half years of teaching, 31 in West Salem. She decided to become a teacher because she likes helping people learn and loves to see kids grow independently.

“As a teacher, seeing the kids understand what you’re trying to teach them is my favorite part about the job,” she said.

She’ll miss the hikes, discussion groups, sharing books with the kids and sometimes acting like a kid herself. She won’t, however, miss doing paperwork and the lesson plans.

When she retires, Pudenz plans to read, relax, catch up on projects around home, travel, and do “what I want to do, when I want to do it,” she said.

Although Fernholz is not retiring, she is leaving the West Salem School District for a position at Viterbo as an assistant professor of literacy. She has been working as a teacher for 17 years and has taught 12 of them at West Salem.

“I first decided to become a teacher because I wanted a career that involved children,” Fernholz said.

Teaching Sunday school at her church and really enjoying it led her to choose to “teach every day and not just on Sundays.” She went back to college when she was 28 to earn a degree in elementary education.

Her favorite part of being a teacher is working with children and being able to give them “the gift of reading.” She loves being able to teach kids the ability to read and understand what they read.

When asked what she wouldn’t miss about teaching at West Salem, Fernholz said, “You know, I honestly can’t think of one thing. I feel very lucky to have worked for the West Salem School District. I am grateful for having the opportunity to teach in West Salem. I will miss it a lot.”