By Brenda Erdahl
Diane Hertwig has taught in the same classroom at Maple Lake Elementary School (MLE) for 30-plus years. Hers is one of the first rooms on the right as you enter the fourth-sixth grade hallway, which is convenient for the many older students who had her as a teacher. If she’s in the doorway when they’re passing by, they don’t hesitate to stop and say hello or give her hug.
“She won’t tell you this, but everybody loves her – past, present students, and staff,” said fellow fourth grade teacher Tim Staloch.
Mrs. Hertwig retired at the end of the school year, Friday, June 3, after 34 years at MLE. As she packed away three decades worth of posters, books, and other miscellaneous items she acquired over the years she compared it to moving to a new house. And with every treasure she boxed up, she was reminded of the many students who have passed through her classroom.
“The connections I’ve made with the kids has been the most rewarding,” she said. “The fact that so many stop by to say hi, or to tell me something . . . I get random emails from students, they might have heard a song on the radio I once played in class, and they want to tell me about it. I love when they reach out to tell me they’ve gone on to become teachers and in some way shape or form I may have inspired them. When someone takes the time to reach out, that speaks volumes. I think hey, I might have done something right.”
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