Out of the classroom,

off the softball field, into retirement

Pearson was mentor for first-year teachers

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- James "Jim" Pearson is retiring as a teacher after having taught middle school mathematics for the past 29 years in District 88, but he's not riding off into the sunset just yet.

Pearson, 57, will become a janitor at Jefferson Elementary School this fall.

"I need health insurance, bottom-line, so I was looking for something that would allow me to get some health insurance. This way, I can keep the Self-Help (insurance), the same policy as in the school district. That was a major reason," Pearson said.

However, he will be ending his 27-year career as coach of the senior high's varsity girls softball team.

Pearson actually has 33 years in as a mathematics teacher. Prior to joining New Ulm's public schools staff, he taught one year in Belle Plaine and three years in Sanborn.

A native of Owatonna, Pearson received his education degree from Winona State University and did his student teaching in Rochester before beginning his professional teaching career. He also lived in Redwood Falls for a while before coming to New Ulm.

"Basically, since I've been teaching, it's been middle school math. No, it never did (get boring) because the kids were pretty exciting. It's fun to be with those kids at this age. For the most part, yes, they're very receptive. They have really good energy," Pearson said.

Still, Pearson has noticed some changes going on.

"The last few years ... the kids are just different now days than they were even just a few years ago."

However, he doesn't believe it is tied to violence in the schools like the Columbine shootings and other acts of violence across the country.

"I don't know that I noticed it with our kids. I think it might have affected the senior kids a little bit more, but since I only deal with a small number of those in the spring when I coach, we talked about it a number of years ago when it occurred," Pearson said.

"I felt that the school district stepped up some things and then got us up to speed on some more safety issues. That was a good thing. We're always concerned about the safety of our students; that is pretty much No. 1."

From a professional standpoint, Pearson, who has a master's equivalent, cites his selection as a mentor for first-year teachers as being a high point in his career. During the 1996-1997 school year, he took leave from his teaching position to be a mentor intern at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

"It rejuvenated me a little bit to see some first-year teachers (in the classroom). I was in charge of 20 first-year teachers in five different school districts so I had a chance to see some young people doing some things. It was a good experience for me," he recalled.

During 33 years of teaching, Pearson has had "three or four" student teachers in his classroom, and that experience helped prepare him for mentoring first-year teachers.

Over the years, his leisure time has been generally spent being involved with his family's activities and, when he wasn't busy coaching in the spring, he was pursuing his gardening interests. The family activity load is changing, too, as his own kids grow up.

Pearson and his wife Vicki have four children. The youngest, Martha, will be a junior at New Ulm Senior High this fall. Their other daughter, Emily, just graduated and will be entering college this fall. Their two sons, Andrew and Matthew, are older. Andrew just graduated from college, and Matthew works as a computer graphic artist at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

When asked if his former students might call him a taskmaster, Pearson replied, "They could probably say that about me. I think they'd probably say I cared about them."