Longtime Bellefontaine City School volunteer and retired teacher Susan Givler was offered a surprise recognition Monday morning by Bellefontaine Elementary School students whom she has touched through the years, and she was the guest of honor at a ceremony and tree planting on her final day working in the school district.
Susan Givler was honored by Bellefontaine Elementary School pupils Monday for her 20 years of volunteer and part-time work postretirement for Bellefontaine City Schools with a planting of a Japanese cherry tree in her honor. The students standing around her gave her tags for the tree that featured life lessons taught to them by Mrs. Givler. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR)
The elementary pupils planted a Japanese cherry tree in her honor at their school building and also presented, in their own words, the life lessons that Mrs. Givler has taught them. The former Bellefontaine High School history teacher who retired from that position in 1999 has dedicated the last 20 years to volunteering and part-time work through the district, including the last 15 to16 years with the Primary Educational Thinking Skills critical thinking program offered with the gifted department.
“I’m now on my third generation of students,” Mrs. Givler said. “I’ve had some of their grandparents in school.”
“After retiring as a history teacher in 1999, I began volunteering at the high school and as needed at other district buildings. Then in 2003, I began working with the PETS program, and first offered that to second- and third-graders and more recently to first- and second-grade students.”
While the ceremony was moved indoors because of the weather and muddy conditions, 16 student presenters gifted Mrs. Givler with tags for the newly planted tree filled with their words of wisdom from their teacher.
“Be creative,” “our words are important,” and “What to do with an idea?” were some of the many sayings that the students recited in front of their peers and their beloved PETS program instructor.
Students involved in the ceremony presentation included Rider Hoskins, Sonny Jones, Savannah Rogers, Sammy Strayer, Caleb Arbogast, Dane Bland, Kyle Stewart, Rosey Lightle, Ethan Reynolds, Brycyn Evans, Lexey Brown, Blakely Vollrath, Olivia Blackburn, Liam Carr, Zoe Jervis and Annie Gallaway.
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