Districts say farewell to longtime educators

-- Angelique Flores

As students say goodbye for the summer, several school officials are

giving a final farewell.

Several Huntington Beach City School District staff members will begin

their retirement at the end of the school year.

Among all the teachers -- and even Supt. Duane Dishno -- who plan to

retire, is Dwyer Middle School Principal Ian Collins. The Huntington

Beach educator, 57, came to the district 34 years ago as a teacher at

Dwyer. He has since served as teacher, assistant principal and principal

at Dwyer, Gisler and Sowers middle schools.

Collins plans to stay active in education, possibly through volunteer

work in the classrooms.

“I still like kids, and I’m still not burned out on education,”

Collins said.

Dwyer Assistant Principal Pat Wrenn will retire after 24 years. She

first taught in Long Beach for eight years before coming to the district.

She taught at Smith and Perry elementary schools and worked in the

district office as a program coordinator before becoming assistant

principal at Sowers. She finally moved to Dwyer where she has spent the

last eight years.

“[Education] is our way of life,” said Wrenn, whose husband and three

daughters are educators too.

Marie Smith, principal at Hawes Elementary School is also retiring.

She came to the district in 1988. She has been in education for 28 years,

beginning as a first-grade teacher in La Habra.

Catherine Follett, assistant superintendent of instruction at the

Fountain Valley School District, will retire after 44 years in education.

Follett has served as the principal at Nieblas, Wardlow, Oka Elementary,

Plavan Elementary and Fulton Middle schools.