The next 13 days are not only the last days of school before summer break for Jerry Hilfer, principal at Falls Elementary School — they are the last of his career.
After spending 34 years off and on with Independent School District 361, Hilfer will retire at the end of the month.
“This school has been a nice atmosphere to work in,” Hilfer said of the environment that has been such a key part of his life for more than three decades. “No two days were ever the same.”
Hilfer told The Journal Wednesday he is embracing the final few days before he closes this chapter in his life, but looks forward to the future.
“What I’ve done here is hard work,” he said. “But more than that, it is rewarding.”
A change of pace
Hilfer was hired by the district in 1978. The young teacher was no stranger to International Falls: he moved to the area at the age of 5.
“I grew up here, but I didn’t attend high school here,” he said.
He spent his high school years at a boarding school in Missouri and studied at Rainy River Community College before venturing off to Illinois, St. Scholastica, and Bemidji for various levels of licensure.
“I went to school, both public and private, all over the place,” Hilfer said with a laugh.
The Falls job came early in his education career. The administrator said he spent the three years before that teaching in Cloquet and Duluth.
“I was placed on unrequested leave twice in my career,” Hilfer recalled of the early days of teaching.
After the second time he was placed on leave in 1988, he and his wife, Jean, packed up and headed 630 miles to Chicago.
“We just wanted a change,” Hilfer said of the move, which lasted four years. “We lived very close to downtown Chicago.”
Hilfer explained he didn’t teach while living in the Windy City and “always planned on coming back” to Borderland.
Home sweet home
In 1992, Hilfer returned to International Falls after being offered a sixth grade teaching position. This time, he was here to stay.
“I loved sixth grade,” Hilfer said. “I taught all grades in my career, but I really enjoyed sixth graders.”
The position gave Hilfer pride in preparing preteen students for high school. He also has fond memories of bringing his wife in to the school to teach art to the sixth grade students.
“The art room brought a diverse group together,” he said. “That was one of the highlights of my career.”
Bigger shoes to fill
In 2000, Hilfer stepped away from creating lesson plans and grading papers and took on a new chapter in his career.
At the time, he said he knew he had 12-15 years before retirement and “was ready for a challenge.”
The time was right, and when the position of elementary principal became available, Hilfer accepted the opportunity.
“Before I took the position, I made sure my colleagues were aware of my intentions to become principal,” Hilfer explained. “I wanted that to be fair.”
Looking back over the last 12 years behind his principal desk, Hilfer said if the initiatives that are part of the school now would have come along then, he may have stayed in the classroom.
“My heart is being a teacher,” he said. “I loved teaching.”
A time of change
As he reflects on the changes he has seen the district undergo in the past 34 years, Hilfer laughs. “One thing that never changed are the kids, he said. “Kids are kids — they don’t change.”
On another note, he said that expectations of education have been raised.
“There is more expected of educators and fewer resources to make some of those expectations possible,” he said.
Hilfer added his feelings about the education system became more political.
“It seems that the people making decisions for how education should be run are politicians and not educators,” he said.
The principal continued, however, that one of the highlights in his career has been how far ISD 361 staff have come in improving student achievement.
“I’ve been so proud of everybody,” he said. “We’ve worked really, really hard.”
The next phase
As the days of his career near the single digits, Hilfer said he is most looking forward to “taking a year off to rest up and recharge.”
“I just need to get my wife used to the idea (of my retirement) first,” he said with a smile.
With no major plans on the horizon, Hilfer admits that eventually he anticipates he will need to “find something to do.”
As for what Hilfer will miss most about his time behind the double doors of Falls Elementary, it’ll be the people and the day-to-day bustle of education.
“When you work in a school, you’re watching people grow,” he said. “I’ve dealt with such a variety of people and that is always so exciting. The nurturing atmosphere of (Falls Elementary) is what I’ll miss the most.”
