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School district bids goodbye to retirees

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Contributed by: Joseph Kirchmer/YourHub.com on 5/13/2008

Douglas County School District said goodbye to nearly 60 employees at a special retirement reception held May 8 at Rock Canyon High School.

Everyone from teachers to bus drivers enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, a chocolate fountain and an address from superintendent Jim Christensen. In all, 59 employees retired this year.

Castle Rock Middle School, 2575 Meadows Blvd., will bid farewell to home economics teacher Libby Stragand, who has taught at the school for 13 years.

The Centennial resident admitted she's somewhat apprehensive about leaving the district, but ultimately feels it's time to finally start a new chapter in her life.

"I'm ready to retire," she said. "I've seen plenty of changes since I've been here, some for the better and some for the worse."

Stragand came to Colorado in 1978 with her husband, George, who had accepted a job with the supermarket tabloid Globe. She got her first job teaching in Colorado at Excelsior Youth Center in Aurora, a detention center for juvenile girls.

After a couple of years teaching there, she moved on to Euclid Middle School in Littleton before finally joining the staff at Castle Rock Middle School. She knew from day one she wanted to spend the rest of her career there.

"Over 90 percent of the kids in Castle Rock, they want to be here," she said. "Out of all the places I've worked, Douglas County has been the best. They treat their teachers with respect. I will never regret coming to work for Douglas County."

In fact, she recently gave words of advice to a waitress at the Olive Garden who was interested in becoming a teacher.

"I told her to get an education and go teach in Douglas County," she said.

So what's in store for her now after finishing up a 35-year career in the education field?

"Travel, travel, travel," she said with a laugh.

You may see her and her husband driving around some day in their RV. It's the one with the license plate that reads "R RWRD," which stands for "our reward," she said.

"It's our reward for achieving the American dream," she said.

She also plans to finish several sewing and scrapbooking projects, deep clean her house, work on her beloved garden and, of course, catch up on sleep.

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