26 Employees Retire from PCPS

 

(May 13) – Twenty-six retiring employees of Ponca City Public Schools were honored at the May Board of Education meeting.

The district hosted a reception prior to the BOE meeting and each retiree was honored during the meeting. Each retiree was recognized for their years of service to the district and Shelley Arrott shared entertaining stories about each retiree provided by colleagues and supervisors.

Each employee was presented with a token of appreciation, an honorary clock, for all the time they invested in the children of Ponca City.

Retiring from Ponca City Public Schools at the end of the 2020-2021 school year are:

Administration:

Barbara Cusick (Executive Director of Curriculum-44 years of service/all with PCPS)

Ronda Merrifield (Principal at Roosevelt-33 years of service/20 years with PCPS)

Dawn Mills (Assistant Principal at Lincoln– 28 years of service/all with PCPS

Certified Employees:

Denise Baldwin (5^th grade teacher at Garfield-31.5 years of service/all with PCPS)

Janice Branstetter (Washington PreK Teacher-19.5 years of service/all with PCPS)

Michael Farmer (Choir Director at West-37 years of service/5 with PCPS)

Jennifer Fenton (English at East-15 years of service/all with PCPS)

Rob Fry (Leadership Teacher at West and Assistant Athletic Director-37 years of service/21 with PCPS)

Melinda Little Cook (Art Teacher at Po-Hi-14 years of service/all with PCPS)

Julie Logan (2^nd grade teacher at Lincoln-31 years of service/all with PCPS)

Dolores Schiltz (Special Service at East-38 years/37 years with PCPS)

Gineta Swanson (District Speech Language Pathologist-20/18 PCPS)

Nancy VanZant (District Speech Language Pathologist-15 years of service/7.5 years with PCPS)

Paula White (Math Teacher at Po-Hi-35 years of service/32 years with PCPS)

Educational Support Employees

Ronald Allen (Custodian at Lincoln-9years of service/all with PCPS)

Sharon Chamberlin (PreK TA at Washington-32 years of service/27 with PCPS)

Teresa Fry (Transportation-21 years of service/21 years with PCPS)

Liz Glaser (Child Nutrition Program-33 years of service/all with PCPS)

Mary Jo Haynes (Child Nutrition Program-15 years of service/all with PCPS)

Betty Hill (Child Nutrition Program-10 years of service/all with PCPS)

Kristina Jennings (Transportation-24 years of service/all with PCPS)

Julie Ray (Financial Secretary-9 years of service/all with PCPS)

Doris Rowe (Child Nutrition Program 23 years of service/all with PCPS)

Terri Schultz (Transportation-30 years of service/all with PCPS)

Paula Sneed (Maintenance-16 years of service/all with PCPS)

Carla Webb (District Business Office-23 years of service/all with PCPS)

Superintendent Shelley Arrott commented, “These 26 individuals have devoted their lives to serving students and we so appreciate the positive impact they made on the students of Ponca City.”

“Our retirees, cumulatively, have served education for 621 years, and of these years, 563.5 years have been dedicated to the students of Ponca City Public Schools. Devoting this many years to the school children of Oklahoma speaks to the dedication, commitment, and selflessness of these individuals.”

“Educators face many challenges regularly, but the reward of enhancing the lives and education of our beloved students if worth any challenge we may face.  Retirement is well-deserved for these employees, and on behalf of the District and Board of Education, we wish them the best of luck in retirement and we appreciate their loyalty and dedicated service.”

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Pictured below: Attending the Recognition Ceremony and pictured in the group picture, front row from left, are Julie Logan and Gineta Swanson;  middle row: Ronald Allen, Dawn Mills, Paula Sneed, Denise Baldwin, Liz Glaser, Doris Rowe, and Nancy VanZant; and back row: Michael Farmer, Ronda Merrifield, Barbara Cusick, Mindy Little Cook, Janice Branstetter, Dolores, Schiltz and Sharon Chamberlin.