The Whitman Education Foundation honored eight staff members for their 30 or more years of service to Whitman at its fundraiser Feb. 19. 

These veterans are math teacher Bonnie Butler, music director Jeff Davidson, social studies teacher Wendy Eagan, science teacher Melanie Hudock, assistant principal Kathy McHale, media services technician Chris Rogers, math resource teacher Russ Rushton, and math teacher Susan Wildstom.

At the fundraiser, principal Alan Goodwin thanked the honorees for their commitment, and McHale gave a stand-up comedy routine with wistful references to the past.  Students from the Crossroads String Quartet, the a cappella group Pitch Please, and the jazz group AJ’s Half Dozen also performed.  

With Promethean boards, Chromebooks, and even smartphones entering the classroom, the long-serving staffers credit technology for the biggest changes.  Wildstrom, who’s in the middle of her 35th year at Whitman, was one of the first teachers in the school to use a Promethean board.  She was also one of the first to introduce the graphing calculator, now a staple for most math students.

“I thought I was really advanced,” Wildstrom said.  “Now the kids have to show me what to do to make my phone do what it needs to do.”

Technology has also changed the way teachers interact with each other.  While email and texting is efficient, McHale misses the increased sociability that comes with more personal contact.    

“If you wanted to talk to somebody, you had to use the telephone or you had to go see them,” she said.

On the other hand, teachers note that the interaction between new teachers and more seasoned ones has improved over the years.  The mentor program that now supports new educators helps keep new teachers from becoming overwhelmed in their first years, Hudock said.  She recalls her anxiety when, as a new teacher in her 20s, she faced classrooms with more than 30 students each.   

“We had really nice people in the science department who helped me, but it was incredibly scary,” she said.

McHale believes there is also better give and take between experienced and new teachers than when she joined Whitman in 1980 as a health and physical education teacher.

“Now we learn from the young teachers and the young teachers learn from us,” she said.  “It goes back and forth.”

Whitman veterans miss aspects of the old building, which was torn down in 1992, including a courtyard and a dome roof above the school’s gym.  The dome also housed concerts and dances and was a frequent target for senior class pranks.

Rushton’s favorite memories involve his time coaching basketball in the dome, he said.  The gym had a screen that would lower to separate the gym so that both the varsity and the JV teams could practice at the same time.

“You could hear what the other coach was saying on the other side of the screen,” Rushton said.  “It was a cool place to coach in. There was nothing like the dome.”

About 250 parents and teachers attended the Education Foundation event, which was held at the Doubletree Hotel in Bethesda.

“It’s really an honor to be recognized,” Rushton said.  “I just feel fortunate that I’ve been here as long as I have been and lucky to teach at a school like this.”

Story by Naomi Meron, Video by Natalie Welber