Longtime educators on the verge of retirement did not expect their final days to be spent in Zoom meetings and eLearning environments, but that doesnt mean their passion for the job is lessened.

When people pursue a career in teaching, they arent expecting notoriety or a six-figure salary; they do what they do because its their life and they love it that much.

Gail Johnson, a retiring first-grade teacher at Cherokee Trail Elementary School, told this to her Erskine College practicum students.

Johnson and Gay McHugh, a retiring administrator and teacher who has worked in education for 50 years, together have 60 years of teaching experience in the Lakelands.

McHugh, who originally taught in the suburbs of Chicago, came to Greenwood in 1979. She and her husband, Tom, now consider themselves Southerners and Greenwoodians. She did not begin teaching in Greenwood until 1981 when she began working with gifted and talented students. Not long after, she would become the principal of Woodfields Elementary. Throughout her 39-year career in the district, she would also serve as the principal of Lakeview Elementary, East End Elementary when it operated as an intermediate school and Southside Middle School. She also served as an assistant principal at Emerald and Greenwood high schools. She will be retiring and leaving her current position as an administrator at Springfield Elementary.

Life just turns out a way that you dont expect it to, and we feel so blessed to have arrived in such a wonderful community as Greenwood, she said. Its been a great ride, (and) I could never have planned it. Ive had the opportunity to get to know so many wonderful educators in this district, each experience better than the last.

McHugh, like other teachers around the world, had to adjust to eLearning during the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted how teachers used Zoom meetings to keep everybody tied and connected together. The change to eLearning and remote instruction in response to the coronavirus pandemic will give districts much to think about, particularly for future pandemics or disasters, she said. Though a change in instruction might be imminent, she continues to have great faith and trust in the innovative and creative people in Greenwood County School District 50.

Certainly this wasnt the way we thought that it (the school year) would draw to a close, but you do what you have to do and I think that everybody has done a great job of their social distancing, she said.

While McHugh will miss things she became accustomed to doing as an educator for most of her adult life, she said they will not completely be gone because she still plans to be involved in teaching and learning even though she does not know in what capacity just yet. She majored in art in college, so she said she expects to devote time to that. Reading and visiting her nine grandchildren will aos be a priority.

Johnson, who has been a part of the Abbeville County School District for 32 years, admitted she is emotional during this bittersweet time.

Its very difficult to leave something that you love and enjoy, and thats been the case with my teaching career, she said. I never thought of it as a job, but rather just a blessing. I dont say that frivolously. Im very sincere when I say that.

Johnson worked as a special education aide in the district for seven years before becoming a teacher. Her first teaching job would be the only teaching job of her career, as she became a first-grade teacher at Cherokee Trail Elementary. Throughout her time there, she developed traditions for her students. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted her annual plans. She does hope to have her annual summer picnic in the park, which she began in 2000.

Im going to make that happen for this group. (I) just dont know when, she said. Its going to depend on what we can and cannot do.

What Johnson will miss the most during her retirement are her childrens hugs, smiles and little notes and pictures they often drew for her.

All those things are really special, she said.

Johnson has taught in room 206 for years, and upon her retirement, she told principal Donald Clendaniel that the next teacher who comes in her room has to love her children, and they cant come in there if they dont.

Thats how passionate I am, she said. Youve got to want to do it. If you dont, then its not the profession to go in.

Johnson and McHugh have affected childrens lives and helped prepare future educators of tomorrow. In McHughs case, those educators are her four daughters, including former Lakeview Elementary Principal Molly Smith. Smith will be leaving Lakeview to become the new director of the Greenwood Early Childhood Center once the 2019-20 academic year concludes.

Im leaving somebody there, someone still connected, and that keeps me real connected, McHugh said. We talk a little bit about school, but not all the time.

While Johnson is not leaving any relatives in the district, she said ACSD has been, and always will be, her family.

Contact reporter Jonathan Limehouse at 864-943-5644 or follow him on Twitter @jon_limehouse.

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Retiring Lakelands educators reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic, their careers - Index-Journal