2 longtime administrators to retire

Mary Lou Zaums shares a laugh with Superintendent Ted Magrum as she is honored during a retirement ceremony at Monroe Road Elementary School last week. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

TEMPERANCE -- The career paths that Mary Zaums and Rose Nearpass took as teachers are dotted with similarities.

They both started teaching in Bedford Township in the early 1970s, weathered layoffs, and went on to get advanced degrees that paved the way for administrative positions.

Mrs. Zaums and Mrs. Nearpass, who have become close friends, will retire at the end of the month, bringing to an end more than 80 years of teaching and administrative experience.

Both women said the part of the job they will miss most are staff, teachers, and parents.

Mrs. Nearpass, 66, summed it up this way: It's been a learning experience from day one.

"I think that the great thing is that no two days are alike. You never know what you are going to hear next. It has just been a great thing. I learned a lot from my staff, kids, and parents every day," said Mrs. Nearpass, who has been principal at Douglas Road Elementary since 1998. "I have been blessed. It is not like a job. I love my staff."

Mrs. Zaums, junior high principal who joined the district more than 40 years ago, said: "A day doesn't go by that I think … I can't believe that I get a paycheck for doing my job."

Superintendent Ted Magrum said the educators will be missed. "They have so much personal knowledge of the buildings, staff, and kids. We are losing 80 years of experience. In the school district that comes in handy," said Mr. Magrum. "Both of them have great reputations for putting kids first and for relationships with their staff."

Both women came to the district while their husbands attended law school at the University of Toledo.

Mrs. Nearpass came to Bedford Schools in 1973 after teaching in schools in New York and Ohio. After she earned her education degree from Buffalo State College in 1967, she taught for three years in Buffalo and Binghamton, where she grew up, and then was a reading specialist for three years in Maumee.

She and her husband, Les, were set to return East but he got a job with a Monroe law firm. However, anticipating they would move, she had resigned from Maumee Schools and was finishing up her master's degree at the University of Buffalo.

She said her husband learned from Mrs. Zaum's spouse about an opening for a reading specialist at Douglas Road Elementary. "I flew in on Sunday. I had my interview the week before school started," she said.

Because of budget problems, she was laid off in 1980, only to be recalled to teach a split class of fourth and fifth graders. It was a change that had a positive impact.

"It was wonderful. We had a blast," she said about the challenge teaching different grade levels simultaneously.

Another round of layoffs in 1981 put her in the classroom at the district's intermediate school, where she taught seventh-grade math and algebra. The next year, she again was pink-slipped, but this time she remained out of the district for two years. She used the time to get her specialist degrees in administration and special education at UT.

Rose Nearpass, left, and Mary Lou Zaums have become close friends during their years working together for Bedford Schools. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

After teaching part time in a Sylvania elementary school for a year and the following year at Toledo's Scott High School, Bedford Schools recalled her in 1984 to teach math at the junior high. More layoffs the next year sent her to teach special education classes in 1985. She took on the duties of lead teacher in 1990, and was promoted to principal eight years later.

Whether teaching elementary, junior high, or special education, Mrs. Nearpass said the trick to being successful in the classroom is engaging students. "I think that is the most important thing. You can have the greatest teaching skills, but if you can't relate to your students not much is going to happen. You want to make sure they are comfortable. Kids can feel they can make mistakes, but they also have to feel they can be successful," she said.

Mrs. Zaums spent 21 years in the classroom and 19 years in the principal's office.

She enjoyed each job equally. "But I will always appreciate the role of the classroom teacher for they are the heart of the school. It is just an all-consuming dedication of time and insight that requires a caring attitude," she said.

A native of Royal Oak, Mich., Mrs. Zaums, 66, arrived in Bedford Schools in 1970 while her husband was attending UT law school. She replaced a ninth-grade English teacher who quit several weeks into the school year.

However, it was not her first exposure to teaching. After graduating from College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati in 1967, she joined her husband, Pete, an officer in the Army, in Japan, where he was stationed during the Vietnam War. She taught English to ninth graders at Okinawa.

Her career at Bedford Schools also was punctuated by layoffs. She was a guidance counselor at the junior high from 1973 until 1980. Cutbacks and layoffs put her in the high school, where she taught chemistry in 1980.

She survived another layoff in 1981 and returned to the high school, continuing with chemistry for two more years before becoming counselor at the junior high. She was promoted to assistant principal in 1988, and then principal in 1992. She earned master's degrees at UT: specialist degrees in administration and curriculum. She served as interim superintendent of Bedford Schools from 2000 to 2001.

Among her proudest moments in education occurred in 2006 when the junior high was named a Michigan Blue Ribbon Exemplary School.

"That was a big team effort. We all pulled together," she said.