Retiring PUSD middle and high school teachers

At least nine middle school and five high school teachers retired this month from Poway Unified School District.

Among them are seven who have taught within the district for at least 25 years. Four of them — including a husband and wife who often taught at the same campuses — accepted an invitation to reflect on their careers and share their plans for retirement.

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Karen McKenzie has been with PUSD for 37 years, starting as a substitute until hired to teach full-time. She taught at Black Mountain and Meadowbrook middle schools until becoming an original faculty member of Bernardo Heights Middle School when it opened in 1988. Most recently she has taught seventh grade humanities and been a seventh-grade co-team leader at Bernardo Heights.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and teaching credential from SDSU, and her masters in administration from United States International University. In 2015 she was the Chelsea’s Light Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year.

McKenzie said she became a teacher because “Teaching was one of the few options for women when I was in college. I thought that I wanted to be a dental assistant until I had to put my hands into someone’s mouth. Teaching looked great after that. It turned out to be a wonderful choice for me. I loved seeing the kids everyday and always being surprised at the things that happen each day in the classroom. No two days are the same.”

She said there are more students in each class now versus when she began and “more expectations of teachers and less time to accomplish those expectations.”

When asked for a special memory, McKenzie said it was “working with such amazing, dedicated professionals at Bernardo Heights. The students change each year. Some come back to visit and most you never hear from again, but the BHMS Bobcat family was the constant in my life. That is what I will miss — my home away from home — my family.”

As for her retirement plans, McKenzie said she is “going to turn off the alarm clock, leisurely drink a cup of coffee, read a book, garden, craft and take trips in the RV to see the grandkids in Minnesota.” She also will volunteer with Chelsea’s Light Foundation, “take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way (and) just enjoy life.”

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Chris Carter has been with PUSD for 29 years, with the past 11 at Westview High where he was its athletic director and a counselor. He also taught and coached at Poway High for three years and Rancho Bernardo High for 15 years, with 11 of those as the Broncos’ head basketball coach. Carter started his career at Downey Unified School District, where he taught for three years.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in physiology and chemistry plus his teaching credential from California State University Long Beach. Carter earned his master’s in counseling and guidance plus his pupil personnel services credential from Point Loma Nazarene University. His honors included being named Basketball Coach of the Year in 1992, Counselor of the Year in 2002 and Athletic Director of the Year for 2016.

“My high school experiences as a student-athlete were influential in my career decision,” Carter said. “I enjoyed learning from my high school teachers and coaches, and I appreciated their teaching and coaching methods. I became a teacher and coach to also guide and support high school students and athletes who desire to become professionals and positive leaders in their communities.”

Carter said technology has helped enhance the teaching process for teachers and students, but students “are most stressed to keep pace with social media circles, which impacts them positively and negatively.”

As for a special memory, he said, “Being able to live and work in PUSD, where my children went to school and where I was able to work with my wife, Lorraine, throughout our careers has been special and unique.”

His retirement plans include moving to Georgia where Carter and his wife “have been building our dream home on Lake Lanier.” He said they also plan to have their children and future grandchildren visit often.

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Lorraine Carter has been with PUSD for 29 years, with the past 14 as a speech and language pathologist at Westview High. She previously worked at Bernardo Heights Middle School plus Poway, Mt. Carmel, Abraxas and Rancho Bernardo high schools. At RB she taught its first critical skills class, starting in 1991. During her 10 years there she also was a sophomore class adviser and founding adviser of its Best Buddies program.

She earned her master of arts in communicative disorders and credential in clinical rehabilitative services with special classroom authorization in the field of language, speech and hearing from California State University Long Beach. Her honors have included being RBHS Teacher of the Year in the early ‘90s, various student recognitions at Westview and recently receiving a San Diego Council Administrators of Special Education service award.

“I have always wanted to be a teacher and one of my first jobs was teaching preschool,” Carter said. “A speech therapist came to the school and did a speech and language screening of our students and I was intrigued. I enrolled in a child language class and I was hooked.”

Carter said changes she experienced in teaching related to “how we label things. Education is truly a pendulum that swings back and forth.”

While Carter said she has “so many wonderful memories ... to numerous to share,” she added, “The people I have worked with throughout my career have taught me so much and I treasure each moment I have had with all of them. My children — who are now adults — attended schools in the PUSD or even the school I worked at, so they were always part of what I did. I have also had the privilege of working at the same schools as my husband (Chris) for most of my career.”

She said their retirement plans are to move to Georgia so they can “begin the next phase of our lives living on a lake.”

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Wendy Svenson has been with PUSD for 26 years, with the past seven as a speech language pathologist at Rancho Bernardo High School. She previously was a resource specialist, reading recovery teacher and/or speech pathologist at Pomerado, Painted Rock and Morning Creek elementary schools; Bernardo Heights Middle School and Poway High. Svenson also advised the Leo Clubs at Bernardo Heights and RB High, plus the latter’s Mabuhay (Filipino Cultural Club) and Ballroom Dance Club.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in speech communication from California State University Fullerton and her master’s in teaching from Grand Canyon University. In 2013, Svenson received Lions Clubs International Leo Club Outstanding Adviser Service Award.

“I always wanted to be a teacher from a very young age,” Svenson said. “I had a lot of respect for my teachers and appreciated the way they reached out and related to me. I had an opportunity to help in a communicatively handicapped special day class one summer when I was in high school. That was what focused my attention on special education, particularly on speech and language.”

Svenson said technology has been one of the biggest changes since entering the profession in 1978. “I have seen the wonder of technology allow a nonverbal student to express their wants and needs, share their feelings and increase their social interaction using an iPad with an app installed that allows them to have a ‘voice,’” she said.

Among her many special memories, one that Svenson said stands out was when a seventh grade boy struggling with reading thanked her for trying to make reading easier for him.

Svenson said she and her husband will remain in San Diego, she will travel off season; garden, cook and read more; sleep in and volunteer with organizations that deal with society’s marginalized.

Also retiring are:

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Beverly Clark, who taught in PUSD for 37 years, most recently math at Poway High School.

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Smail Saidani, who taught in PUSD for 29 years, most recently math at Bernardo Heights Middle School.

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Larry Richards, who taught in PUSD for more than 27 years, most recently sixth grade at Twin Peaks Middle School.

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Nancy Flexer, who taught in PUSD for 24 years, most recently seventh and eighth grade at Black Mountain Middle School.

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Steven Ely, who taught in PUSD for 23 years, most recently special education at Black Mountain Middle School.

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Kerry Ferrer, who taught in PUSD for 20 years, most recently sixth and seventh grade at Mesa Verde Middle School.

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Deborah Sather, who taught in PUSD for 20 years, most recently in Bernardo Heights Middle School’s After School Education and Safety program.

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Lesley Meisberger, who taught in PUSD for 18 years, most recently math at Bernardo Heights Middle School.

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Susan Buhler, who taught in PUSD for 14 years, most recently special education at Rancho Bernardo High School.

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Susan Sheldon, who taught in PUSD for 12 years and most recently was a librarian at Bernardo Heights and Mesa Verde middle schools.