Elmhurst Teacher Leaves 'Extended Family'

ELMHURST, IL — A lot of people are talking about high school seniors who are graduating without the traditional rites of passage. But retiring teachers are going through the same experience. In Elmhurst, one such teacher is Linda Schneider, who has been teaching in town for decades.

Last Saturday morning, her fellow teachers and classroom parents decided to honor Schneider's retirement in a way that social distancing allows — a car parade. It was kept secret from Schneider, 64.

"I had not a single inkling," she said in an interview with Patch. "I could hear the horns. I thought it was for York High School graduates."

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She went outside her Berkley Avenue home to see the excitement and saw her school's color — green. Then it dawned on her that this parade was for her. She said it was emotional, especially because she had not seen her students in person since March.

At times, she would forget about social distancing, only to stop herself from getting too close.

"I kept running up to the cars wanting to hug the kids," Schneider said. "It was the hardest thing not to give each and every one of the students a hug."

Schneider became a teacher 42 years ago. It's her 26th year at Elmhurst's Jackson Elementary School, where she is a fifth grade teacher.

She likes teaching that age.

"They are right on the cusp of being young adults," Schneider said. "They get my dry sense of humor, and they appreciate it. It is the perfect age."

For retirement, Schneider and her husband, Doug, plan to move to their lakehouse at Lake Ozark in Missouri. Their Elmhurst house is up for sale. They have lived in town for 41 years. Her mother died a month ago.

"There have been big changes. It's going to be a big adjustment," she said. "I was really worried about being around in August when school was starting. I really love the start of the school year and setting up my classroom."

But she said it was time to start the next chapter, noting their children no longer live in Illinois.

Seeing the students in the parade, she said, "brought my heart a lot of peace."

"People don't realize how attached teachers can become to their students," Schneider said. "They become extended family."

Teaching has been far more than a career, she said.

"The faculty started as faculty. They turned into friends, then into family. I've visited the hospital when they had babies, weddings, gone on vacation," Schneider said. "Teaching has been a passion."