Kimberley Girard taught mathematics for 39 years before retiring in May 2019. She continues to enjoy reading and doing mathematics but spends much of her time now out-of-doors. In the winter months she runs a Learn to Skate program at the local ice rink, sharing her enthusiasm for skating with about 80 community children. About her career in the classroom: Mrs. Girard treasures all the "little triumphs experienced by students throughout the school year," and she cherishes all their gestures of gratitude especially the notes that read: "I hope I can be like you when I start teaching." She hopes that her students will come to realize that "What they've learned in school is only a stepping stone to greater learning. My philosophy," she says, "is that learning new things makes life worth living." One of her students once remarked "she teaches as though she really likes that stuff;" Mrs. Girard thinks this is an apt description of her style as a teacher. "My actions communicate to others, but especially to students, what it means to have a career in teaching rather than a job as a teacher," she says.
1980 B.A.: State University of New York, College at Fredonia; M.Ed.: Montana State University at Billings
