The Knoxville Community School District honored several retirees and long-term employees during their recent district-wide end-of-year luncheon.
It’s an opportunity for all district employees to get together one last time and celebrate their careers.
Those retiring from the district this year are Transportation Supervisor Joe Klootwyk, Special Education teacher Sheldon Davids, Food Service worker Cherol Hamler, Paraeducator Ruth Ann Wagner, and Associate Kathy Pitt.
A full list of retirees and 25-year employees is available below:
25 Year Employees
Ned Fee has maintained the same position in our district for many years. Although he is our Mechanic Supervisor, he also can be seen driving the bus whenever a substitute is needed. Overall Ned says he loves his job and enjoys the kids and staff that he works with the most.
Kim Hollinrake taught for 20 years at Northstar, beginning as a 2nd grade teacher and the following year moving to 1st grade. Ten of the years at Northstar included teaching a 1st/2nd looping classroom. For the past five years, she has been at West and still enjoys teaching 1st graders. Over the years, Kim has also dedicated her time to various committees including the Building and District Leadership Teams and the Knoxville Education Foundation, currently serving as the treasurer.
Cindy Jergens currently teaches 4th grade at Northstar and previously taught grades 1-3 in each of our elementary buildings! Prior to coming to Knoxville, Cindy taught four years at Belmond-Klemme (Preschool, Kindergarten & 3rd Grade) and in West Bend at St. Peter & Paul School for four years (1st and 2nd grades).
Johnna Kincaid has taught 5th grade at Northstar and East Elementaries for the past 17 years. Prior to that, she taught special education at KHS and East.
Becky Lane began working for the district in 1990, driving a car route up until 1996. She then drove one of two Harvey routes until it turned into one route. She then took over the Columbia bus route, which she still drives today. In addition to these regular routes, she drove students to and from Basics and Beyond in Newton for a few years.
Kurt Wallace began his teaching career in Knoxville as a Social Studies teacher at Nell McGowan Jr. High and later transferred to the high school where he currently teaches U.S. & World History and Contemporary Issues. He began the 8th Grade Washington D.C. trip in 1992 and has performed many extracurricular duties including: 7th Grade Football, 7th Grade- Assistant Varsity Boys Basketball (20 years in this sport) and 10th grade class sponsor.
Retirees
Sheldon Davids has worked in special education for the district for 26 years. Prior to that, he served in the same role for Boone, Pleasantville and Twin Cedars School Districts. Sheldon has also put his computer skills to use over the years on the technology team and plans to continue this after his retirement, along with pursuing a variety of other part-time activities.
Cherol Hamler has worked for 33 years in our food service department. Her plans for retirement include spending time with her grandchildren, taking a few short trips and catching up on household chores. She is looking forward to not waking up at five o’clock in the morning.
Joe Klootwyk has seen a lot of changes over his 37 years with the district. He worked as a mechanic for 12 years and for the past 25 years as the Transportation Supervisor. The one thing he’ll miss the most are the kids as he enjoyed seeing all of the kids (and their kids) go through the system.
Kathy Pitt is looking forward to many things in retirement including spending time with her grandchildren, traveling with her husband and sewing. She has worked at the High School as an associate for four and a ½ years and as a substitute teacher. During her spare time, she also plans to return to KCSD next year as a substitute teacher.
Ruth Ann Wagner has worked as a Para Educator for eight years and worked at Pleasantville CSD for one year. After retirement, she plans to travel to as many racing events as possible, work in her garden and enjoy time with family.