tcrow@taylorisd.org
Isabel Gomez, Diana King and
Linda Schmale retired from Taylor ISD at the end of May. With a combined seventy-three
years of service to Taylor students, eighty-five years total, they have
impacted the lives of thousands of students and say they are
taking many great memories with them.
“I had gone to a football game back in 1981,” Isabel Gomez recalled. “I was walking through the gate with my ticket in my hand and David Krueger was standing there. He said hello because he remembered me from high school, and then he asked if I would be interested in a job at the school.”
Gomez had already completed
an application, which Krueger pulled the following Monday and a career began
that would last for the next thirty-six years.
During that time, Gomez has
worked as a classroom teaching assistant at Twelfth Street School, Taylor High
School and Taylor Middle School. She later became the middle school attendance
clerk and is retiring as the campus registrar.
Diana King has supported
students as a teaching assistant in the English as a Second Language (ESL)
program at TMS for the past nineteen years. During that time she has mostly
worked with students who speak Spanish, although she recalls one student who
came from Korea and didn’t speak any English. The biggest challenge she
remembers was learning to use computers.
“I was in Mrs. Lumpkin’s
class to translate,” King said. “I had to have a crash course on computers
because I didn’t know a lot about them. I would listen to Mrs. Lumpkin and just
really try to remember and that’s how I learned not to be afraid to use
computers. I learned by listening to her and trying to translate for the kids.”
Linda Schmale has worked
eighteen of her thirty years in Taylor, serving in the content mastery
classroom at Taylor Middle School and also assisting in the library.
All three say they have seen
numerous changes during their time in the schools. For Schmale, the biggest
change has been in the library, replacing the card catalog and check-out with a
computerized system.
Gomez recalls using a
mimeograph and chalkboards before computers were available, and thinking of
ways to teach students before curriculums were put in place.
“When I first started, we didn’t
have an ESL teacher or program and they needed someone to help with the kids
that didn’t speak any English,” Gomez said. “It was just me trying to help
those kids. I used a lot of flash cards. I would say a word and they would
repeat it, and we’d just talk a lot of English. A couple of years later the
Bilingual program started and the ESL program started and they hired a teacher.”
Gomez has worked with ten principals
during her time at the middle school. Eddy Lankford was the principal when she
started, followed by Mike Clifton, Larry Sutton, Walt Fenn, Kimberly Mason,
Ester Allgower, Danny Ward, Richard Kolek, Hector Martinez and Travis Motal.
King recalls Coach Safarik’s
fish fry for the staff, and special curriculum themed days for students as the
most fun.
“Texas cultures day was
always fun,” she said. “They used to have a class on Hispanic culture and we
actually used to make food for them, like tortillas. We would let the kids
learn how to roll them and we would have beans and rice for them. I also liked
Civil War day. I loved walking around with the kids and I was learning as much
as they were.”
Schmale says she enjoyed the
civil war day, too.
“I liked the reenactment and
the cannon,” she said. “That was always a lot of fun.”
One of Gomez’s favorite
memories is when a movie crew came to town, filming on site at the Seventh
Street Campus.
“They filmed a couple of
movies at the old middle school while I was there, like Heartbreak Hotel,” she said. “The guy that
played Elvis came to the office one day and did the announcements in his Elvis
voice, and teachers got to take their students to watch the filming. That was
fun.”
King’s favorite memories
also include the annual Veteran’s Day assembly.
“I always enjoy the veterans, and all the music of the armed forces. Oh, I loved it. Then when we were able to bring pictures of our family members, I was so proud to bring a picture of my dad to put on the board. That was very special.”
Gomez says she is always amazed
at the progress students make during the school year.
“We can hear the band
classes in the office because they are on the stage, and they learn so much in
such a short amount of time. They start from not knowing any notes or just
making noise to music. It just amazes me how much they learn.”
Schmale says she has enjoyed
working with colleagues at the middle school.
“I enjoy coming up here every day because I know I’m going to see my friends, and I enjoy the day.”
Now that they are retired,
all three have plans for the extra time they’ll soon have.
“This summer I’m going to
Alaska,” said Schmale. “My sister and her husband are retired and are planning
to go on some trips with me. I have a lot of plans for my yard and my garden,
and spending more time with my dad and my aunt, so I’ll be busy.”
“My main goal is to make myself healthier,” said Gomez. “I like working in the garden and plan to go walking and exercise more.”
“My daughter is in Kentucky and my three sons are in Utah and I have 6 grandchildren,” said King. “I don’t get to see them very often, so I’m going to be spending a lot of time at one or the other. I also love to sew. One of my bedrooms in my house I’ve turned into a craft room and I have it all set up with material and two sewing machines. I can’t wait.”
A lot has happened since the
night Gomez met up with David Krueger at that football game, and she is glad to
have had the opportunity of being a part of the TISD team.
