Second to none: Hillsboro second-grade teacher Ferguson to retire after 36 years
May 12, 2020 -- Posted by :By Cory Erickson, Hillsboro Banner
Desks, decorations and projects sat just as they’d been left March 13, but Kari Ferguson’s classroom was empty Tuesday.
With Gov. Doug Burgum’s May 1 announcement that school buildings would remain closed for the remainder of the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferguson’s time as classroom leader effectively came to an end.
For the retiring 36-year teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, it’s not how she’d envisioned her final weeks to go.
“I think all of us teachers went through a grieving process with this situation,” Ferguson said. “It’s been hard.”
Ferguson is stepping down at the end of May after spending all but two of her years guiding second-graders in Hillsboro.
Now, after nearly four decades, she’s taught children of her first students and is getting to the point of teaching a third generation of learners.
Jokingly, she said she knew that was the time to step away.
“(Fellow teacher) Jill Anderson and I said, ‘When that third generation comes up, we’re done,’” Ferguson said with a laugh. “That means we’re really old.”
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