Willowside Middle School teacher retires after 42 years

Longtime educator Betty Paulukonis knew since first grade she wanted to become a teacher, but the excitement of fast skates, athleticism and epic battles almost derailed her career plans.

“At age 12 I wanted to be a roller derby star. I watched the Bay Bombers so I wanted to be one of them,” said Paulukonis, one of the county’s longest-serving public school teachers.

She never did get a chance to join the women of the roller derby, but Paulukonis says it all worked out for the best. She’s retiring this month after 42 years as a teacher in the Oak Grove Union School District in Santa Rosa, satisfied with her long career and fulfilled after teaching more than 3,000 students from fourth through eighth grades.

She was 23 when she arrived in rural Santa Rosa from her native San Francisco, her long hair flowing to her waist from a center part, her eyeglasses a mod hexagonal shape. She was entirely in vogue for 1973.

“It was my ‘Summer of Love’ look,” she quipped.

Few of her earliest students would recognize Paulukonis, who turns 66 on June 1. Though four decades and a host of styles have passed, Paulukonis remains the same “tough but fair” teacher she’s always been.

“And I’m funny,” she said, acknowledging her keen sense of humor has been as much a help in the classroom as the teaching strategies she’s honed and tweaked to keep up with changing curriculum, technology and students who seem to grow up faster than ever.

“They are all taller than they ever were before,” Paulukonis said. “They’re becoming young adults at a younger age. They’re not staying kids as long as they used to.”

She retires from the 400-student Willowside Middle School as a seventh-grade math teacher, but started her career teaching fifth grade at Oak Grove Elementary. Both campuses are within the two-school district on the western edge of Santa Rosa near Graton.

Paulukonis - Ms. Paul to her students - has taught the children of former students as well as those of one of her colleagues. She’s worked under 10 superintendents and 16 principals; her career spanned eight U.S. presidencies.

“Every year at the beginning of the year I’d hear, ‘My mom had you,’ or ‘My dad had you.’ I think I didn’t realize how long I’d been teaching,” she said.

It’s only when former students stop by campus to catch up that Paulukonis reflects on the impact she’s had on so many generations of kids.

“It’s when I see them as adults and what they’ve become,” she said. “I somehow think I’ve had some little piece in getting them in that (positive) direction.”

Hearing about their successes is just one highlight in her long career. Paulukonis is the math department chair, a former teacher of the year, three times was selected as a mentor teacher, has coached volleyball and basketball (and currently teaches a physical education class), was the longtime outdoor education director and served on a committee that helped establish the school district’s first collaborative bargaining contract.

For someone who stayed in her first job 42 years, it’s hard to narrow her favorite moments or greatest accomplishments. From playing guitar and singing along with students to guiding struggling kids through tough math problems, the memories are all rich and meaningful.

Paulukonis long ago realized teaching - and not the roller derby - was her true calling. Ask if she’s been satisfied and she replies with a chorus of affirmations.

“Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes, for sure,” she said, smiling broadly.

“I think there are people who would say I never lost my enthusiasm. I don’t think I’ve changed any. I’m still crazy. I refuse to be a piece of dead wood.”

She laments a foot injury is prompting her to retire. Paulukonis will face reconstructive surgery and a long recovery shortly after her retirement.

“If I didn’t have the physical issues I have, I would still be teaching,” she said. “It’s still fun.”

She has a long list of hobbies and interests to keep her busy, from traveling in her RV to reading, quilting, gardening and piecing together some 250 early Americana jigsaw puzzles stacked in her garage.

First, though, she has to distribute the hundreds of decorative frogs in her classroom she’s been given since coaching a team called the Phrogs back in the late 1970s.

Students and families from throughout Paulukonis’ career will have an opportunity to pick up a frog and share their memories during a retirement party from noon to 4 p.m. June 5 at Willowside Middle School, 5285 Hall Road, Santa Rosa. For details, call 542-3322.

Messages for Paulukonis can be left on facebook.com at Ms. Paul is Retiring, Really!

Contact Towns Correspondent Dianne Reber Hart at sonomatowns@gmail.com.