Looking forward to the next few months of not having to get up early for school, Faye Canape has absolutely no idea what she would write in September if asked to pen a “what I did last summer” essay.
There may be a few trips down south in store for her and her plans to get really great at knitting – good enough to someday teach others – could weave their way into the story. But, regardless of what recollections the essay might contain, it’s safe to bet that a good title would be “The First Months of the Rest of My Life.”
Canape, currently a resident of Millstone and before that of Howell, is retiring after 36 years as a teacher in the Howell K-8 School District. She spent the vast majority of those years as a kindergarten teacher – warm and fair, but strict.
Canape’s roots run deep in the area. Her parents owned the Southard General Store – a fixture in the middle of the 20th century in the township. She grew up in the Southard area of Howell and attended the Southard School before moving for fourth grade to the township’s “new” elementary school in 1964 – Land O’ Pines. She was graduated from Monmouth College and earned her nursery certification from Georgian Court College.
After student teaching at the Griebling School in Howell, she took over her own classroom there and began to make a difference in the lives of future generations.
Eventually, she moved her zeal for learning to the Ardena School and then to Land O’ Pines.
Patricia Dukes has been Canape’s teaching assistant for the past two years but they have known each other for 15. Dukes is sad to think about the next school year without Canape, but is excited for her colleague and friend to embrace the future.
“I’ll miss her real down-to-earth genuine interest and concern for the children and her sense of humor. And her absolute total commitment and friendship,” said Dukes. “But those who have benefited most from her commitment are the many, many children whose lives she has touched.”
Sandra DeYonker, the principal at Land O’ Pines, also commented on Canape’s retirement.
“Mrs. Canape has touched the lives of many children. She will be truly missed next year,” the principal said.
As Canape packed up her classroom over the past few weeks, doling out special pencils and other supplies to her beloved “kids” for use when they hit the “big time” in first grade next year, she reflected back at a career – no, a life – that has thus far been richly fulfilling.
“Even after 36 years,” she said, “I have never said, ‘I’m going to work.’ I always say, ‘I’m going to school.’ ”
She has been proud, year after year, to watch nervous, often teary-eyed 5-yearolds enter her classroom on the first day of kindergarten only to walk out on the last day in June with their heads held high.
“My kids come to school not knowing anything and I just know they are sponges ready to take it all in. Some can’t sit still for a minute and others can’t get simple things in or out of the backpacks when asked. But they work into the routine and they all come so far,” Canape said.
“My daughter has truly grown into a more mature young girl,” said Lisa Duhigg, this year’s class mother. “She walked into (Canape’s) class shy, crying, afraid to go to school and venture out of her comfort zone. Since being in this class she has become an assertive, very sure-ofherself, happy child,” “I think she is off to a great start due to the great first year of education that she was given. We were lucky to get such an experienced person to lead our children into the start of their academic years to come.”
Indeed, over the years, Canape has had the pleasure of teaching hundreds and hundreds of children and then, happily enough, the children and grandchildren of many of those very students. She remembered many funny times when she was approached by an adult who introduced her as their “kindergarten teacher” to a spouse or friend.
She recalled one recent evening that brought great memories and tears to her eyes.
“At my first retirement dinner this spring, I didn’t take tissues with me. That was a big mistake. One former student, now a speech teacher at the Griebling School, presented me with a framed photo that had been taken when she was a child in my class. The photo was of me, her and her baby brother. It was taken on the day she introduced the baby to the whole class,” Canape recalled. “Along with the photo, she wrote, ‘You are my mentor, Everything I needed to know I learned from you in kindergarten. I became a teacher so I could be like you.’ ”
Finally, after many moments of recollections, Canape became melancholy – thinking of all the happy days gone by. But then, she looked forward again and a giant smile graced her face. She looked just like one of her very own eager-beaver kindergartners. Canape is daydreaming of the next chapter of her life – spending time with her husband and grown daughter, traveling, maybe buying an Air Stream and searching the country for a new place to plant some roots.
She is even thinking seriously of being a volunteer at a national park so she can continue to meet people and help them learn about their surroundings. Only in that case, the classroom isn’t covered with the ABCs, sight words and bulletin boards; it will be some of this country’s most beautiful places.
It’s a world that she can’t wait to rush into, even though she knows that she will probably feel a tug in her heart the first week of every September – forever.
Now, sitting on one of the classic “little” chairs found in brightly decorated kindergarten classrooms, one might think this grown woman would look out of place. Canape, however, looks completely, comfortably, in place. She regularly chooses to sit in the little chairs instead of her own desk chair. She is at home here, feeling as comfortable as she did many years ago when she was a kindergartner herself. She related a story that seems to come alive and reinforces what has driven her all of these years to be the very best teacher she could be. The story, clearly, explains how early she found her calling.
“Back when I was a kindergartner myself at the Southard School, teachers left the classroom when they needed to go to the main office or to speak to another teacher. The kids were left alone for a few minutes,” Canape said. “On one day, I remember, Mrs. Mahoney left the room and the kids really went wild. I had just started learning to play piano. I got up from my seat, walked over to the piano and invited my classmates to come over, too.
“I played and they sang songs and everyone calmed down. When the teacher came back, she saw that I had everything completely in control. I guess that’s when I knew where I belonged.”
Some children can’t wait to move on. Canape knew that the kindergarten classroom was the place where love of lifelong learning planted its roots. It was where she needed to be.
Indeed, her Land O’ Pines classroom has been her home away from home for a long time. She looked around, trying to take it all in one last time. But when the clock struck 12:30 p.m., it was time to get her children off the bus and begin afternoon kindergarten. Even with retirement looming, she was serious about giving her “kids” the best she had to offer every day.
Tomorrow is surely going to be an adventure for Canape. Truly, the first days of the rest of her life. If only, someday, she really gets a chance to write that “summer” essay, or better yet, a retrospective of her adventure in teaching. What an essay it would be.
“You just know when it’s time to go,” she said. “And now is my time to enjoy the next part of my life. Being a teacher has been wonderful; we have all had such fun. This has really been fun.”