When Great Salt Bay students joyfully hit the exit doors in June on the last day of school, math teacher Ted Kane was also leaving the school, but his exit was more poignant – he was retiring after 43 years of teaching.
“It was time,” he said, unconvincingly. “I’ve been teaching well over half my life.”
During the congratulatory celebration for GSB’s eighth graders moving on to high school, Kane received a standing ovation for his years of teaching that lasted reportedly five minutes. He wasn’t there to hear it.
A modest and exceedingly polite man, the veteran fifth grade teacher was apparently not aware of the impact he’s had on so many lives. It hadn’t occurred to him to attend.
GSB Principal Jeff Boston said of the ovation, “So many people in the audience were his students. There were generations of them there. He deserved the applause.”
Few can imagine holding the same post, in mostly the same location, for 43 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a release published in June 2008, “younger baby boomers held an average of 10.8 jobs from ages 18-42 (a job defined as uninterrupted work period with a particular employer.” (Visit www.bls.gov.)
According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, people may change careers about every five years, and may have three to five different careers in a lifetime. (See www.dol.gov.)
The statistics don’t hold for Kane’s primary career choice, and it doesn’t hold true for his secondary career choice, either: he served more than 30 years as an Active Duty Army Reservist.
Apparently, the statistics don’t hold much truth in general for GSB, since Boston said there are numerous teachers on staff with 20-plus years experience in the classroom.
A native of the town of Latham outside Albany, N.Y., Kane decided to attend college in Maine, and chose University of Maine, Machias “in the middle of nowhere,” he said, remembering. Though his major was elementary education, when he graduated in 1967, he “wasn’t sure he wanted to teach.”
Upon graduation, however, he needed to get a job. Traveling to Augusta, he was in Maine Dept. of Education Margaret Arbor’s waiting room (since she had lists of teacher openings), when a man sat down.
“I remember sitting next to a dapper gentleman who talked about an opening in Newcastle. I was talking with Herb Sperry, the superintendent at the time. So, I was hired right there, while in the waiting room in 1967 for $4900 per year,” Kane said.
Kane started his teaching career at the Franklin Grammar School (now the Franklin Apartments on Mills Road in Newcastle). When Newcastle and Damariscotta combined their schools in 1970, Kane went to the Castner School since he taught fifth grade. Later still, when Great Salt Bay Community School consolidated Damariscotta, Newcastle, and Bremen grade schools, Kane was onboard again teaching fifth grade mathematics.
In 1968 he married Franklin School first grade teacher Virginia. Kane and his wife have three children, Alan and twin daughters, Jennifer and Julie.
He also embarked on his second career: He enlisted as an Army Reservist, and was stationed at Ft. Lewis in Washington State, returning to the classroom in 1970. With the usual weekend duty once a month, and longer summer tours, Kane stayed as an Active Duty Army Reservist for more than 30 years, retiring a Lieutenant Colonel. “I reached mandatory retirement,” he said.
Kane is deeply admired by staff, students, and parents. He brought fair discipline to his classroom. “High expectations yields good results,” he said of his teaching style.
Former students remember him as strict, but very fair. Ryan Poland, (GSB 2001) of Damariscotta, remembers, “Mr. Kane was strict, I remember that.”
With a grin, Poland said his mother and uncle were also Kane students years ago. “He was strict, but he knew how to have fun,” Poland said.
Reminded that Kane was a devoted military man, Poland affirmed his classroom had “structure.”
“No matter what the occupation we’re in,” Kane said, “we are in the business of accountability.” Referring to teaching, Kane went further. “We have that accountability to the taxpayers and a moral obligation to the leaders of tomorrow.”
Put on the spot about teaching successes, Kane remembers a few students and where they are today. “One young man I had in around 1978-79 is now Portland School System Assistant Superintendent. There’s a math teacher in Old Town, and I believe, a college professor teaching at Princeton. I had a student in 1981 who was for [the last] four years, my superior, Asst. Principal Kim Schaaf.”
An obviously physically fit man, Kane certainly won’t be lounging in retirement. He’s pleased he’ll have the time to delve deeply into reading. His favorites are Civil War novels, military history, and numerous magazines including American History Illustrated and Civil War magazine. “I particularly admire Gen. Joshua Chamberlain,” he said.
Kane also looks forward to time with family and the grandchildren; he has five and one on the way.
“I’m called ‘Bumpa,'” he said. His children and grandchildren are in New Hampshire, Texas, and Connecticut and he feels deeply the separation with a common lament, “They couldn’t find jobs here.”
Closer to home in retirement, he said, “I’ll be around. Retired teachers come back to volunteer. They just can’t walk away. I can be myself with children, more than with adults.”
A forever teacher, Mr. Kane will work with those students that need extra help, and he’ll give what he has most – time.
