First grade teacher retires from Carroll
By Jennifer Archibald Staff writer

Sheagley

After 31 years as a first grade teacher, Ann Sheagley has announced her retirement.

Her whole teaching career was with the Carroll School Corporation. She first taught at Burlington until that building closed, and then at the old Flora school until the new Carroll Elementary was built.

Sheagley grew up in Flora and graduated from Carroll High School in 1967. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University Kokomo.

She followed in the footsteps of her mother and grandfather, who were both educators.

"I have always loved children," Sheagley said. "I love being around them; they keep you young at heart."

Reflecting on her career, Sheagley said, "The joys of teaching are endless: smiles, hugs, special notes, the joy of watching them learn to read and write and grow as a person."

She said the biggest change she has seen over the years is the increasing importance of technology.

"We use computers every day with staff, students, and parents," she said.

Sheagley's goals as a first grade teacher have always remained the same.

"I wanted each child to feel safe and loved in my classroom," she said. "I wanted them to feel like our classoom was a family, and as such, we treated each other with respect, talked through problems, and cared about each other." Her classroom motto was "We need to try our best each day and help each other along the way."

Sheagley said teaching has its challenges and its rewards.

"Every day in an elementary classroom is different," she said. "A teacher must be flexible, think on your feet, and laugh along with the children."

She listed the rewards as follows: "Getting to spend a year getting to know, care about, and love hundreds of children and their parents."

"I'm very proud to have been a part of the Carroll school system," Sheagley said. "The staff is very close, and we work very hard to give each child the best education possible."

She said her plans for retirement are to give her family and herself the "gift of time - time to spend with family, grandchildren, and do those things there never was time for when working."

She and her husband, Ray, live in Flora. They have two daughters, Kim Worl (husband: Kevin) of Kokomo and Tara Fure (husband: Adrian) of Westfield. They also have three granddaughters, and a new grandson is expected this week.