By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
For Jacqueline Cleak, the five hours a day that she spends as an aide at the Lawrenceville Elementary School seem to fly by and so have the 26 years she has worked at the school on Craven Lane.
When September rolls around, Ms. Cleak will not be standing at the ready, helping kindergarten teacher Jeff Berry as he welcomes the latest crop of students. She is retiring.
”I get really sad when I think about it, but then it’s like this is happening to someone else. It’s a weird feeling. I don’t quite believe I am leaving. I know I am, but I don’t know it down here,” she said, pointing to her heart.
But Wednesday was Ms. Cleak’s last day.
Ms. Cleak, who was born in Trenton, said she always wanted to become a teacher. She recalled serving on the school patrol at the Gregory School in Trenton, where she watched over the younger children as they waited for classes to start in the morning.
”I remember, I was 11 years old. I went home for lunch and I would buy penny candy (on the way back) and reward the children if they were good. I like working with children,” she said, adding that pursuing a career as a teacher was a childhood dream.
Those dreams had to take a back seat upon her marriage to Jim Cleak. Raising the couple’s two daughters took priority, so working in the classroom as an aide has been the next best thing to becoming a teacher.
Ms. Cleak’s introduction to the world of the teacher’s aide came when she sought to find a nursery school experience for her older daughter. A friend introduced her to the Bethany Lutheran Church’s nursery school. She took her 2-year-old daughter to the school, and soon found a job herself in the after-school program.
She loved it.
The Cleak family, however, left Lawrence and moved to Connecticut in connection with Mr. Cleak’s job. They returned to Lawrence several years later, and she found a position as an aide at the Antheil School in Ewing Township until a similar position opened up at the Lawrenceville Elementary School.
As a teacher’s aide, Ms. Cleak assists Mr. Berry with the children. She helps with art projects. One afternoon a few days ago, she guided them as they cut out paper flowers and decorated them for Father’s Day. She assists Mr. Berry wherever she is needed.
The children naturally respond to Ms. Cleak. They walk up to her and spontaneously give her a hug. She is the substitute grandmother for children whose own grandparents may not live close enough for regular visits.
”The children are so cute and so honest and so sweet especially the kindergarteners. They are so real. They will tell you just how it is good, bad or indifferent. They will tell you the truth when they tell you something,” Ms. Cleak replied when she was asked why working with children is so appealing.
Ms. Cleak said she loves being out in the community and running across some of her former students. They will approach her and ask whether she remembers them. Sometimes, it’s hard because they have grown up and may not resemble the 5-year-old she worked with in the classroom.
But it is exciting to see them, many of who are now in college. She said she likes to hear about what they are doing. It’s also fun to see the younger children who have moved on to other schools within the district, who she said will often give her a big hug “like they saw you yesterday.”
”The children make me feel young. It makes me want to come back to school. I know retirement won’t hit me until everyone goes back to school, and I am still here (at home),” said Ms. Cleak with a wistful smile.

