JACKSON TWP — Twenty-seven teachers and paraprofessionals representing more than 600 combined years of service in the Seneca Valley School District were recognized at a school board meeting Monday, June 3, ahead of their retirement this month.

Board directors and administrators thanked staff members for their years of service to the district, noting the unique challenges educators have faced across the past few decades, including teaching in the face of rapidly progressing technology, student mental health concerns and a pandemic.

“These teachers that are leaving us and these professionals and these support staff that are leaving us, they’ve lived through all of (COVID-19),” said superintendent Tracy Vitale. “Mask on, mask off, cohort in, cohort out, plexiglass everywhere. They have seen it all. And so I would be remiss if I didn’t pause to say that this is an anomaly of a class that’s leaving us. What they’ve seen in public education, the classes before them have not seen.”

“When you came out of college to teach, we were still using dial up internet,” said board president Eric DiTullio. “ ... we didn’t have laptops to take home — (computers) weighed 100 pounds. You went from that to integrating, not just teaching, technology in your classrooms.”

“And we said, hey, there’s this thing called (COVID-19) — deal with that as well,” DiTullio continued. “And you took it in stride. Then we also said, by the way, you’ve never been trained for this, but there’s mental health issues that we’re going to ask you to take care of with these kids in your classroom as well.”

Rebecca Hester, a Rowan Elementary School gifted support teacher who has taught in the district for 33 years, was among the retiring staff members who addressed board directors.

“The students I taught became my kids, not my students, not my pupils ... and their families became an extension of my family,” Hester said.