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After serving 2 million meals, Suzie Haas will hang up her apron

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After 31 years and serving more than 2 million meals to hungry Exeter students, Suzie Haas plans to take off her apron for the last time when the kitchen at Owatin Creek closes for the school year. She’s been an institution in the kitchens at Exeter for as long as most of the parents of her students have been alive. 

“Suzie’s one of a kind. She has a great sense of humor that makes a tough job more enjoyable. She will definitely be missed,” said Courtnay Epler, Food Services Supervisor. Tracy Lis, Food Services Secretary, agreed, “She knows the name of each and every student that comes through the line. On their birthdays, she goes out of her way to make sure they feel special by finding little gifts for them, like rubber bracelets. She really puts her whole heart into the job.” 

Suzie began working at Lausch in 1991 and stayed there for 20 years until the building closed. From there, she moved to Jacksonwald until 2017, and then to Owatin Creek five years ago. While she said that technology in the kitchen’s changed a bit over her career, the premise of cooking and serving healthy and nutritious food hasn’t. Reflecting on her time in the kitchen, she said that being a “lunch lady” is a career that’s tougher than most think–especially during the pandemic and dealing with the supply chain issues of the last year–but she said that great co-workers, a family-friendly schedule and getting to know so many kids were all the favorite parts of her work–as well as the food they served. “I’ll miss our brunch the most!” she said with a laugh. “And my orange-slicing machine!”

Lorane student returns to Lorane–This time as a teacher

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Above: Taylor Kerling (center) is joined by (left to right): Isabella Peralta (4th), 1st grade teacher Adam Ousley, art teacher Tia Cosgrave, Elise Schwartz (4th), music teacher Nina Delewski, and Reese Glenn (kindergarten). All dressed like Taylor for "Dress Like Your Teacher" day at Lorane. 

Below: Taylor, when she was a Lorane student. 

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You might say that today’s “Dress Like Your Teacher Day” teacher appreciation spirit day was a full-circle moment for Taylor Kerling, who is a first-year teacher at Lorane–as well as a former Lorane student. “I honestly didn’t think this would happen,” said Taylor, blushing, surprised to see students who dressed like her, as well as teachers–including Nina Delewski who once taught Taylor. “To be a part of the Lorane family is one of the most amazing blessings.”

When we first caught up with Taylor to do a story on her return to Lorane now as a teacher, it didn’t take long for us to recognize Taylor’s authentic admiration and appreciation for Exeter teachers and how she says she owes her career to them. Taylor is Exeter. She’s a first-year Health & Physical Education Teacher at Lorane. She’s a 2017 alumnus. (Her mom is an alum, too.) And she says she owes her success thanks to the incredible and genuine care that Exeter teachers gave to her when she attended school here.

“I wanted to become a teacher to be to others what I experienced here in Exeter. I know that seems like a stereotypical answer, but it couldn’t be truer. I had such a great experience here in Exeter with teachers who taught me so much more than just the curriculum. They taught me how to be a good person. They helped me develop into a genuine and caring person. I had wonderful opportunities and had so much fun learning. By my junior year, I knew I wanted to be a teacher, and I knew I wanted to return to Exeter to teach.” 

Her appreciation for those teachers, also, isn’t lost on those who had her as a student. Music teacher Nina Delewski dressed like Taylor today because she wanted to show her support for an “amazing” first-year teacher. “She fits in so nicely here because this is where she grew up,” adding that it was initially a little surreal working with a former student. “That’s a first for me!” she said.  

One day soon, though, Taylor may find herself in the same position as Nina as she already seems to have a few students who showed their appreciation for Taylor by dressing like her, including Isabella Peralta (4th), Elise Schwartz (4th) and Reese Glenn (kindergarten). When we asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, all three responded with an emphatic, “A gym teacher at Lorane like Miss K!”

Teacher’s journey inspires students and colleagues

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During the last 20 years, Michele Bautsch has worked in nearly every building in Exeter, and has held nearly a dozen different job titles, but none have been the most fulfilling to her until this year when she achieved her goal of becoming a full-time certified special education teacher–a journey that she said she owes to teachers and administrators who saw her special light, talent and love in working with emotional support students and kept encouraging her to further her education to have a classroom of her own. “I never thought I would become a special education teacher at 54,” said Michele, adding a touch of her signature encouragement: “It is never too late to go back to school and get the degree you deserve. It takes a lot of effort, but in the end it is all worth it.” 

Michele’s journey began in teaching when she earned an elementary education degree after graduating from college. However, when her children were born, she decided to stay home to care for them. When her girls, Rachel ‘12 and Jordan ‘14, entered school full time, Michele looked to return to work as a teacher, but her teaching certification had expired. It was then that she began her 20-year journey in the district holding a variety of teaching aide positions at Jacksonwald, Owatin Creek, Reiffton and the Senior High, mostly working with students who have special needs. Looking back, she said she always loved working with younger students, but it was seeing her impact on older kids with emotional needs that she found the greatest satisfaction, which propelled her to return to school in the fall of 2019 to recertify as a special education teacher. Next week, she’ll graduate from Alvernia with her master’s degree in special education–and a 4.0. 

Although Michele is quick to thank the administrators who encouraged her and inspired her to chase her dream of becoming a certified teacher, you’ll find that it’s those same people who are inspired by Michele’s own journey and perseverance. “She shows her students day in and day out that hard work pays off and that you can always strive for more for yourself,” says Secondary Special Education Supervisor Jillian Brodhead. Owatin Creek Principal Kristi Coble agreed, and added, “Seeing Michele in action with students, it was always evident she was meant to be a teacher. Her dedication to student success and to continue her education in order to do so is inspirational!”

Former teacher’s legacy is alive at Jacksonwald

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If you spend a few minutes with Kristine and Karlee Schmidt, you’ll soon discover that teaching at Exeter is more than a profession–it’s in their blood.

Kristine, a 1st grade teacher, and Karlee, a 3rd grade teacher, are mother and daughter, are both Exeter grads, and are both teachers at Jacksonwald–working just a floor apart from one another. But besides sharing the same workplace and the same sense of Exeter pride, they share the same inspiration for their careers thanks to their connection to Margaret “Peggy” Hart, an Exeter teacher for 38 years–and Kristine’s mother and Karlee’s grandmother. During her long career in Exeter, Peggy taught most elementary grades and later became a reading specialist before moving to the Senior High to “work with the neediest kids to help them graduate.” Although Peggy sadly passed away almost four years ago, her influence is still alive today in the thousands of students she taught, and by her daughter and granddaughter whom she inspired to carry on the tradition of teaching excellence that she nurtured here in Exeter.

“She was an icon,” said Kristine, speaking of her mom, who passed away at 85 years old. “Her dedication to teaching was so genuine and honest. She had so much love and care for the children she worked with. When I was growing up, we’d see students she had in the grocery store or somewhere, they’d light up when they saw her because they thought she was so wonderful. I went into teaching because she inspired me to want to become a great teacher like her.”

Upon graduating from Penn State, Kristine knew she wanted to return to Exeter to begin her career, where her mom was still working. “It was really important to me that I stayed here, where I grew up and had a sense of community and a sense of pride. Working in the district for a few years with my mom, also, was just such a special time for both of us,” she said. Thirty years later, she never thought that history would repeat itself when her own daughter would join her by also returning to Exeter to teach.

Karlee, who taught her first year in the Owen J. Roberts School District, applied for an open position in Exeter last year, never thinking she’d be placed in the same school as her mom. Describing the day she was hired as emotional and celebratory, Karlee said that her mom started crying as soon as she found that she was placed in Jacksonwald. Now, she says, she checks in with her mom daily to help mentor and support her in her new role. “I was very fortunate to be inspired by two of the greatest teachers–my grandmother and my mom–and I feel so lucky to be back at Exeter to teach and to help inspire the next generation of Exeter Eagles.”

Exeter Alum & Award-Winning Author Holds Workshop at Exeter

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“You can make a living in the arts. I make my own hours and make my own rules and I’m here to tell you that you can make a living making art.” 

Exeter alum Amy Sarig King ‘88, known professionally as A.S. King, author of more than a dozen young adult books, such as “Switch,” “Dig,” and “Still Life With a Tornado;” recipient of many literary awards, including the Michael L. Printz Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and champion for teenagers everywhere, returned to her former high school on Thursday and her former junior high on Friday to inspire a new generation of Eagles to make characters, to make stories, to make art–and to push through some of the most difficult–yet foundational–years of their lives. “Teenagers are going through a lot. I survived (those years) because this is where I learned to write.” 

Describing herself as a student who was “weird, with an arty brain,” King pointed out the exact assignment that perhaps was the genesis for her entire career. In 9th grade, she was assigned to write about an inanimate object; she chose a can of succotash. Her teacher, Patti Vroman, was enthusiastic about King’s results and, “made me feel like I had done something right.” From there, she says, she started to find her voice and develop her confidence as a writer. 

During two days filled with presentations, workshops and discussions, it doesn’t take long to discover that King writes for teens because she deeply appreciates these formative years and the complicated journey they go through as they discover themselves. She also says that it was her own journey here in Exeter that deeply affects and influences her writing–with some of those events finding retold homes in her books. Today, she says that both her writing and teaching work is meant to lift up the generation who she describes as not being appreciated by the general public. “They’re hurtful toward them,” she says, her voice softening. “I want to give them a place to express their feelings and give them an outlet… I want to be able to help teenagers understand that what they have to say and what they feel is actually important. I don’t think they’re given that message enough.” 

When she’s not writing novels, speeches or teaching, King holds writing workshops and lectures all over the world for little kids to big kids to Ph.D. students–and everyone in between–as Exeter students were so lucky to have found out when she delivered two full days of presentations, workshops and discussions with students at both the Junior and Senior High this week. Exeter librarians Nancy Gajewski and Kate Sowers organized the event and invited King because of her ties to Exeter–and because “I love her novels,” said Junior High Librarian, Kate Sowers. Nancy Gajewski echoed the same sentiment, and added, "Her life experiences are also amazing and her honesty with the kids was refreshing." 

Interestingly, King’s writing workshop for dozens of 9th through 12th graders on Thursday afternoon mirrored her assignment back in Exeter during the 80s as she began the workshop asking students to develop a character by writing from the point of view of a relatable inanimate object. 

“Trust me,” she said, as if she knew the success of the assignment.

Board of School Directors June Meeting Date Changes

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The Exeter Township Board of School Directors will meet on the following dates in June at the Exeter Township Administration Building. As always, these meetings are open to the public:

  • Wednesday, June 1 at 6PM – Committee of the Whole (originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 7)
  • Tuesday, June 28 at 7PM – Voting Meeting (originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, then Tuesday, June 14)

Thank you.

Revised: 5/13/22