For two decades, students at Evergreen Middle School have gravitated to the school’s library.
While the books are good and the technology continues to advance, it isn’t the stuff that has made the space a refuge for countless students, but the librarian, Gregg Elder.
Described as an educator in action and heart and soul, Elder is known for his calming presence, reliability and a devotion to kids.
“He always put students first, he believed in students and wanted each kid to have a great learning experience and find a place,” said Larry Fleckenstein, assistant superintendent and a former principal at Evergreen.
Now, after a lifetime in the Everett School District, including his own K-12 education, student-teaching at Madison Elementary and 43 years as an educator, Elder is retiring this month.
“I feel like I’ve had a really good run,” said Elder, a 1973 graduate of Cascade High School. “I love and am really appreciative of the opportunity to live and work in the community I have.”
Replacing the 40-year staple in the halls of Evergreen won’t be easy.
Elder didn’t simply maintain a high-tech library that was a model district wide. He coached football, basketball and track and field for more than a decade each, negotiated for the teacher’s union, actively volunteers as a clock operator at middle and high school basketball games, donates blood regularly to the tune of more than 17 gallons and always left time to support staff and students.
“He is one of a kind,” former Evergreen principal Jim McNally said. “If you could clone the guy, that is a person you would want to clone.”
Following four years at the University of Washington, Elder taught for three years at Lowell Elementary before switching to Evergreen Middle School where he would spend the next four decades.
First, as a sixth grade language arts, social studies and history teacher for 20 years, where former co-worker Johnny Herber described Elder as “… the greatest classroom teacher his peers have ever known.”
Elder then moved to the library for the final half of his career.
“The library was really near to my heart in terms of allowing kids you wouldn’t normally get to know that well, they would just come and hang out there and feel comfortable and safe,” Elder said. “I wasn’t attaching a grade to what they were doing, I was there to help support what they were trying to work on or what they were trying to do.”
He described the library as a safe harbor for students, a place they could come to take a breath during the day. By developing student ownership of the library, Elder built the reputation that it wasn’t just his library, it was their library too.
“I think it was an opening feeling that I had in terms of allowing kids to come in and be middle school kids,” Elder said. “They dinked around a lot, but they still did a great job in there and I tried to honor that for them.”
A number of principals said Elder was ahead of his time with his awareness of the social and emotional needs of middle schoolers.
When Joyce Stewart, principal at Evergreen for nine years, had a student in need of someone to make them feel important and cared for every day, she sent them to Elder.
“He would bring a student in there and would hold them accountable, teach them skills, but at the same time make sure they were nurtured while there in the library and when they left they felt very good about themselves and their contribution,” Stewart said.
That presence will be missed at the school, but Evergreen principal Michele Waddel thinks Elder’s legacy will remain.
“I believe that your impact stays even after your gone,” she said. “His impact will continue, because that is what we are used to.”
For his part, Elder simply hopes he made an difference. He said he’ll miss the camaraderie with staff and the connections with students most, but is glad to be done with the chaotic first week of school each fall and closing the library for standardized testing.
Elder will no longer be found behind the book checkout counter, but it’s doubtful he will stray far from Everett.
“I don’t actually see Gregg leaving,” Waddel said. “He is so interconnected into the community, so on the one hand he is not going to be in my building every day, but I know he is only a phone call away.”
Elder is one of four Everett Public Schools employees retiring after 40 or more years in the district. Michael Moran worked in maintenance for four decades, Robin Tester spent that same time working in custodial operations and Edwin Lundberg taught students for 41 years, including 31 years at Heatherwood Middle School.
Ian Davis-Leonard: 435-339-3449; idavis-leonard@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @IanDavisLeonard.
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