Teacher sees retirement as yet another door opening Posted 12/7/01 by Lori Hall Staff Writer After 35 years of getting up at 5 a.m., Mavis Frankson relished sleeping in until 6:30 a.m. on the first day of her retirement from her position as a second-grade teacher at Cherry View Elementary School. Though she loved the job of teaching, the district, the staff and the students, Frankson now feels like she is on a permanent spring break ó a well-deserved vacation. Frankson joined the Lakeville School District in 1966. At 23 years old, it was her first full-time teaching position. Through a former instructor of hers who knew former Superintendent Don McGuire, Frankson accepted a special education position at John F. Kennedy Elementary School. She taught special education for 10 years before taking a leave to start her own family. In those 10 years, Frankson and her coworkers started changing the program. They started fitting the students into the regular classrooms when they could, such as in art, music and physical education, and then pulling them out for closer attention for academic subjects. ìLakeville was very progressive in that area,î she said of the changes. In those beginning years, John F. Kennedy and Orchard Lake were the only elementary schools in the district. ìThe staff was small and we not only taught together, but we also socialized together and some became lifelong friends,î said Frankson. ìIt was a time when everyone knew everyone else in the district. Now, I no longer recognize many of the elementary staff much less the secondary.î The first years were tough for many teachers in the 1960s. Frankson recalls carpooling to work with coworkers to save money. There was one winter morning when the carpoolís car wouldnít start and the schoolís principal, Tom Vucinovich, went out to get them and even brought them back home at the end of the school day. ìThat act of kindness was above and beyond the job description of a principal,î said Frankson. Her recollections are vivid of the past when the district was just a few buildings. Frankson remembers the school building where the district office is now located. ìThe building has that old wood smell, and it seemed as though you could almost hear the voices from the past when you opened the front door.î When Cherry View opened its doors, Frankson recalled the technology of the new building ó air conditioning, carpeting, staff restrooms and ìthat new building smell.î She said at John F. Kennedy, during warm, humid weather, children and staff often slipped on the floors left wet by the moisture in the air. Having taught elementary special education, first, second and third grade, Frankson has a true love for young children and their education. Frankson said she enjoys teaching because she likes the feeling of making a difference in studentsí lives. ìIf you believe in them, sometimes they learn to believe in themselves,î said Frankson. ìThere has to be more rewards in teaching than monetary to make teachers stay.î Frankson said she teaches like a ìpushy little grandma,î gently urging her students to excel, take responsibility, believe in the themselves and to be fair. Claudia Nelson, also a second-grade teacher at Cherry View, has worked with Frankson for 10 years and the two have become close friends. ìSheís just a really, really good friend of mine,î said Nelson. ìI was always asking her advice for things.î Morning walking buddies, Franskon and Nelson often conferred about school and their own lives. The thing Nelson said she will miss most about working daily with Frankson is the laughs they shared. ìI bet I laughed out loud at least once a day with her,î said Nelson. ìShe can see the humor in things.î With 13 schools now in the district, Frankson said she never imagined Lakeville growing so big and so fast. With the growth came more students. Though Frankson said the size of the district never made her job more difficult, it did make it different. ìYou kind of have to change with it,î she said. But her passion for education has never wavered. Growing up, Frankson taught her younger sister how to read, write and do math before her sister even entered school. In high school, Frankson was asked to be a substitute teacher for some of the elementary grades. Even when Frankson was at home raising her children she was still teaching. Her son and daughter were given lessons and even had little gym classes, as Frankson believes in a strong mind and a strong body. Frankson and her family have lived in Lakeville since the 1970s. They built a house out in the country with nothing but wild animals around them. Now they have neighbors closer than they would like and a chain retail store being built just blocks from their home. ìThis was country. This was a gravel road,î said Frankson. ìOnce progress came, it came fast.î However, Frankson still enjoys Lakeville and still calls it home. ìI live here. I built my life here. It has been a very nice place to live,î she said. With her future lying out in front of her, Frankson plans to spend time with family and friends and pursue her many hobbies, including gardening, reading, writing, painting, crafting stained glass pieces, fishing, boating and going to garage sales. To the parents she leaves behind, Frankson said, ìParents are the first and most important, most influential teachers any child ever has, good or bad. ... If youíre lucky enough to have children, take care of them.î To future teachers and her former coworkers, Frankson said, ìGive your little customers their moneyís worth. Try to teach each one of them to be a good person, take responsibility for their own actions and to give them the skills to be successful in life.î A party celebrating Franksonís retirement will be held Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Chart House Restaurant with a social hour at 11 a.m. and a luncheon and program at noon. ©Thisweek Newspapers