BROWNSTOWN
As the school year recently came to a close, Brownstown Elementary School lost a combined 73 years of experience in the classroom.
Becky Baker retired after 43 years, and Lora Hackman closed the chapter on 30 years in education.
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Becky Baker
Baker graduated from Brownstown Central High School in 1972 and then went to Ball State University and earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary education.
“I had a second-grade teacher, Mrs. Ruth Brewer, that I dearly loved and wanted to be just like her,” she said of her draw to teaching. “She called all her students her little angels. I even got the pleasure to teach with her a few years before she retired. She was a very special lady and teacher.”
Baker taught third grade from 1976 to 1999. She said she wanted to help students realize learning from books is not the only important lessons to be learned, so she created a poster entitled “Mrs. B’s Recipe for Success.”
The four ingredients were organization, attitude, responsibility and spend time wisely. Taking the first letter of each word spells OARS.
“If you use oars on a boat, you will keep moving forward. If you leave out a part of it, you do not have both oars in the water and you will go in a circle and obviously not get anywhere,” Baker said. “Several years ago, I had a parent of a student of mine, who is actually a parent of her own now, tell me that the thing that she remembered most about my class was the recipe and always strived to follow that recipe.”
Baker said she decided if it helped one child, maybe she should drag it out for her fifth-graders once she took that position.
“I have used it every year since,” she said. “I point it out throughout the year when someone needs a little reminder of one of those ingredients.”
She said she liked teaching fifth grade because students’ personalities really begin to shine through at that age.
“Teaching has been my passion for 43 years,” she said. “I love seeing kids grow and achieve. It’s very rewarding to me when I run into a former student and they stop and tell me all about what they are doing, where they are working and where life has taken them.”
For more than a decade, her fifth graders participated in KIDS TV, a weekly newscast for the school. Baker said they went from talking over the phone to presenting a recorded video on the classroom whiteboards.
“I have really enjoyed working with technology in the classroom,” she said. “It’s amazing how much it has changed over the years. We’ve gone from a single computer in the classroom that uses a floppy disk drive and no internet to Chromebook labs with wireless access in almost every single room. It has been fun to learn right along with the kids how to best use these tools for teaching and learning.”
Also, for more than 20 years, Baker’s students made quilts that represented their favorite books and researched topics about U.S. history.
Outside of the classroom, she was involved in a variety of activities with students of all ages. That included coaching volleyball, track, cross country, basketball, softball and soccer and teaching skiing and swimming.
“I also believe being physically active is very important, so I have always strived to incorporate some sort of exercise in my classroom and encouraged them to keep moving,” Baker said.
A few months ago, she said she started thinking about retiring. Then recently, she made the decision official.
“It was very difficult,” she said. “I really can’t imagine not being here at BES interacting with my kiddos every day. I will miss the smiles and hugs I get. I will miss seeing their eyes light up when they get it.”
She also said she will miss the fun times and friendships developed with staff members.
In retirement, Baker will be able to travel and see her kids more often.
“Chris plays golf, and I like to watch his tournaments, take pictures and cheer him on,” she said. “Cassie lives in Denver, and I want to go out there to hike some of those 14K mountains with her. I also bought an ICON ski pass, which is a multi-resort ski season pass, so I can hit the slopes in lots of different states.”
For those still in education or considering it as a career, Baker’s advice is to make sure teaching is their passion.
“Encourage all the young people you get the opportunity to teach to believe in themselves,” she said. “One of my favorite quotes that I have borrowed and adapted is from Henry Ford: ‘If you think you can or you can’t, you are probably right.’ I try to remind my students of that as often as I can.”
Lora Hackman
Hackman grew up on a farm in the Cortland area and went to elementary school there until moving to Seymour middle and high schools.
After graduating in 1984, she went to Indiana University. During her freshman year, she decided to go into education.
“I always liked school,” she said. “I had more great teachers than I could even begin to name. Many of them I am still in touch with today. It seemed I had always worked with or been around kids, whether it was babysitting, tutoring or teaching swim lessons. It just seemed like the natural thing to do.”
A few weeks after graduating from IU in 1988, her only interview was with Brownstown, and she said working anywhere else was never a thought.
Because of an overflow of first graders that year, that’s where Hackman’s career started. When the numbers changed, she moved to fourth grade for a few years.
Then a second grade position opened up, and she was asked to move into that classroom.
“I had student taught with Sharon Goodman at Jackson (in Seymour) in second grade and really liked that age group,” Hackman said. “I stayed in second grade for over 20 years. I’ve jokingly said I’ve been to the zoo more than 20 times. That was our second grade field trip.”
Three years ago, the Title I reading position came open, and Hackman said she thought a change would be good for her.
“I had taught primary for many years,” she said. “So many kids struggle in reading, and working with them early is important. It’s a challenge every single day, but it’s so rewarding when you see these kids improve and succeed during the school year.”
Getting the opportunity to educate students meant a lot to Hackman.
“I don’t think as an educator you think about the impact you are making on your students day after day,” she said. “Teachers are so busy. They think about what they need to cover in the classroom that day, that week, that year, but then 30 years go by.”
She said she has seen former students working in the community, graduating from college and starting families of their own.
“I really started feeling old when I began having kids in my classroom of past students. Parents would come in and say, ‘Do you remember me, Mrs. Hackman?’” she said. “There are even teachers in this building who were students of mine. That’s when you start to think, ‘Wow! Maybe I did do something right.’ It makes you very proud.”
Hackman began contemplating retirement a couple of years ago when her first grandson was born.
“When you get a new grandchild, you start to look at things a little differently,” she said. “That’s when it started becoming a little more difficult to come to school.”
When the second grandson was on the way, Hackman and her husband, Brian, seriously started talking about her retiring.
“I love my new Title I position, but priorities change,” she said. “So when Lane was born about a month ago, I announced my retirement.”
It was a difficult decision, she said.
“I have always worked, even when our girls were younger,” Hackman said. “For these last 30 years, I have come to the same building, worked with so many good people and some really amazing young people. Change is not easy and can be a little scary.”
She said she will miss hearing her name shouted as kids pass by her room, receiving hugs in the morning, hearing the funny things kids say and seeing the look of surprise and accomplishment when a student finally gets something right after working on it day after day.
She also said she is “the luckiest person” to have been able to work with the staff members over the years.
“Most people do not realize how hard teachers work,” she said. “My colleagues come early, stay late and show up on the weekends to get ready for the week ahead. They are smart, dedicated and amazing at their jobs. But they aren’t just my colleagues. They are my extended family. We have been through babies, graduations, confirmations, weddings, health concerns and deaths together. Not seeing them every day will be tough.”
As a retiree, Hackman said she will spend more time with family and friends.
“I will not be called Mrs. Hackman on a regular basis but Nana instead,” she said. “Our youngest daughter is getting married in September, so wedding plans are going to be a top priority.”
To anyone considering becoming a teacher, Hackman’s advice is “Get ready.”
“Teaching is hard work, and it continues to change because the kids change,” she said. “You have to be ready for a new challenge every day, but in the end, it will all be worth it.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Baker file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Becky Baker
Age: 65
Hometown: Brownstown
Residence: Brownstown
Education: Brownstown Central High School (1972); Ball State University (Bachelor of Science in elementary education, 1976); Indiana University (Master of Science in elementary education, 1978)
Occupation: Recently retired after teaching for 43 years at Brownstown Elementary School
Family: Husband, Jim Baker; son, Chris Baker; daughter, Cassie Baker
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Hackman file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Lora Hackman
Age: 53
Hometown: Seymour
Residence: Seymour
Education: Seymour High School (1984); Indiana University (bachelor’s degree in education, 1988); Indiana University Southeast (master’s degree in education, 1993)
Occupation: Recently retired after 30 years at Brownstown Elementary School
Family: Husband, Brian Hackman; daughters, Jessica (Chandler) Lambring and Jenna (fiance, Mitchell Scarlett) Hackman; grandsons, Hudson Lambring and Lane Lambring
[sc:pullout-text-end]