Margaret Sullivan will miss being greeted daily by a room full of second graders

Sullivan retired last month after 30 years of teaching (four years at St. Wenceslaus School and 26 with the New Prague Area School District). She said she would change nothing about her 30-year career of helping harness the enthusiasm of young learners.

“It’s the best job in the world,” she said. “I’ve loved every minute. Second graders are fun and energetic. They are excited to be learning.”

Sullivan, daughter of the late John and Jean Gehlen, enjoyed teaching in her hometown. She graduated from New Prague High School in 1975 and earned her degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. She worked a long-term sub job at a Catholic school in Minneapolis before starting at St. Wenceslaus, where she spent four years. She spent 26 years teaching in the New Prague Area Schools the last 10 at Raven Stream Elementary.

“Teaching in my hometown added a fun dimension to the job. First, when I was at St. Wenceslaus, I started with teachers that I had growing up, which was cool and scary at the same time. Teaching in New Prague, I knew so many of the families. That was an added dimension that I liked. It helped make them ‘my kids.’”

Sullivan says she has so many great memories, but two of them stand out. One is....

To see more on this story pick up the June 14, 2018 print edition of The New Prague Times.