Long Time Teacher Retiring

posted 6/4/22 -- Jane Godby ends her 39th year of teaching with mixed emotions. After 15 years with LCCAA Head Start to cap an incredible career, the Wellington center teacher will retire June 10.

“I will miss my co-workers and the families, but most of all my students,” she said. “I see past students all the time and I am always so proud of their achievements. I have been teaching long enough to see students marry and have kids!”

Godby said she has always felt like a teacher. She has taught preschool in private and church based environments but loves the mission of LCCAA Head Start.

“We teach children about everyday life,” she said in a 2019 interview. “We give them the kind of stability they need. We teach to the family more than anywhere else I’ve ever taught. Little steps are how we get there and little steps happen in amazing ways.”

Godby said retirement has not been an easy decision. She is blessed to care for her mother, now 93, and wants to give her more attention. She also hopes to help out more at her church, visit the new Elyria Library branch in her neighborhood and perhaps be welcomed as a Head Start volunteer.

“Jane sparkles. It’s obvious she was meant to teach and make a difference,” said Wellington Site Administrator Kara Goodwin. “She is a true master teacher. She makes it look effortless when it is anything but.”

After so many years in the classroom, Godby reminds new and aspiring teachers that the key to success is to never stop learning.

“Learn all you can and then be ready to re-learn with each class because no two classes are the same and standards change all the time,” she said. “Talk to your students and get to know what they care about then they will care about what you have to teach.”

Watching students transform has been one of her favorite aspects of teaching.

“We take them from being babies to being students,” she said in 2019. “It’s a pretty amazing thing when you see it done.”

Godby said she will always love her students and hopes her Head Start families remember that. While the students may not always remember her specifically, she knows they will remember what she taught them. She loves to see children thrive.

“Read and laugh together every night,” she urged. “Being fun, fair and firm is how kids feel safe and how they flourish.”