From food service to the library, two of Indian Creek’s retirees this year have made their mark outside the classroom.
Carol Schaaf, retiring after 30 years at the school district, started her career 30 years as a classroom teacher’s assistant, working for special services at Indian Creek High School. She spent 12 years as extracurricular activities treasurer at the high school, before her current position as food service director, which she’s held for 13 years, Schaaf said.
Her roots at Indian Creek schools extend beyond her career. She originally began working for Indian Creek because her children attended school there, she said.
“When I started, our youngest son was a kindergartner and our other two kids were also in school and the hours coincided. As I changed positions, I moved up to take on larger roles. They were different challenges, but I did what was best for my family,” Schaaf said. “I enjoyed each of those roles. They were very different from each other and it gave me a chance to try out new roles and new job descriptions.”
When Schaaf earned the title of food service director, she was the first in the school district’s history.
“When I took this position, there had not been a food service director before. It was kind of breaking new ground,” she said. “I became part of food service and learned from a lot of people who had been in the food service sector longer than I was. I have a staff of 25 so the hiring of staff was a major ongoing process to keep the kitchens running smoothly. To make sure the equipment was in order, I had two managers to oversee them and I helped them out whenever they needed in running the cafeteria.”
Upon retirement, Schaaf plans to spend time with her husband and children and travel more.
“Indian Creek was probably the best place to work for me and my situation with my children being here,” she said. “I enjoyed the staff immensely. They became my second family and Indian Creek became my home away from home.”
Julie Swopes has spent 22 years in education, 21 of which were in the Indian Creek Elementary School library.
“Children were absolutely my life,” Swopes said. “I wanted to be a mom and educate them and when my kids were little they went to Christian schools, but they were so expensive I homeschooled. When they were old enough, I had to be back involved and I went back into public school because of my love of kids.”
Working in the library combined Swopes’ love of reading with her love of working with children, she said.
“Besides the love of reading, it was the lighting up of the kids’ faces whenever you read to them. It’s the most exciting thing,” she said. “I always read to my kids when they were little. To read so kids are excited about it was the most joy to me, and when the job came open I ran as fast as I could to it.”
If a child was not the most eager reader, Swopes would find a way to get them interested in books by asking them what subjects they were interested in, she said.
“I find what they’re interested in and then we go find a book about what they’re interested in,” Swopes said. “When I read to them and show it’s so exciting, they can almost imitate that and can bring all kinds of excitement. Then they would tack onto that subject or series of books and they would go crazy.”
Even though she’s retiring, Swopes plans to spend a few hours in the classroom a week to encourage students who may be going through tough times. Some of her favorite memories as a teacher include connecting with students who were experiencing difficulties, Swopes said.
“When a child was having a bad home situation and I was able to just see they were having a bad time, I just remember telling them ‘this will not last forever.’ They can rise above this and be the most incredible adult,” she said. “To end up having those students as young adults come back and tell me they remembered those words. I have letters from kids saying ‘I remember when you told me this.’ Those are my fondest memories.”
