Longtime Westfield Friends Teacher Retiring in June

Cinnaminson, NJ --- After more than five decades at Westfield Friends School as a student, a parent and a teacher, Liz Martino (“Mrs. M”) is set to retire at the end of this school year.

“To say that she will be missed is quite an understatement,” school officials said in a statement this week. “Martino is the heart of Westfield, a mentor and friend to many and a treasure to her students and their families.”

According to the school:

Martino first came to Westfield in the early 1950’s, when her older sister, Elena, started pre-kindergarten in what used to be the Westfield Meetinghouse, now known as the Pre-K Building.

Martino started school a few years later and has many fond memories and stories of her Westfield days.

She recalls taking naps on cots set up between the Quaker meeting benches and playing in the old carriage house, formally used for a horse and buggy that brought children to Westfield back in the days before school buses.

Her memories include tales of Field Day (still her favorite day of the year!), school plays and musicals, square dances and covered dish suppers, as well as teachers who did not let her get away with anything … even though she often tried!

“My sixth grade class play was HMS Pinafore. Although I would have preferred to play the girl in the pretty dress who sang a sweet song; my teacher cast me in the part of Dick Dead Eye, the peg-legged evil pirate. She felt that my ‘outgoing personality’ was better suited to stomp around on stage with one leg and an eye patch. I, of course disagreed, but made the best of my role!,” Martino said with a smile.

She graduated from Westfield’s sixth grade in 1962, before the addition of seventh and eighth grades in 1981.

When her first son, TJ, began kindergarten at Westfield Friends in 1975, Martino shortly returned to start the school’s after care program. She later started the morning program. Her second son, Michael, soon followed his brother to Westfield during these years. In 1979, she became the second grade assistant working with Marjorie Callahan for the next 14 years.

While her sons were young, Martino returned to college to finish her Bachelors in Education, and also took several graduate level courses at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1990.

TJ and Michael graduated from Westfield’s eighth grade in 1984 and 1988, respectively, and both went on to college. They are teachers today.

After a co-teaching stint in fourth grade from 1990 to 1992 with her friend and colleague, Cass Michel, Martino began teaching second grade in the fall of 1992.

There, she developed a world curriculum based on the continents, which is still in use today.

A favorite activity includes making life size penguins in the art studio.

In 2008, when Cass Michel retired from the fourth grade class, Martino was eager to take over and created memorable lesson plans on New Jersey history and geography and the pathway of immigration in the United States.

Each year, the fourth grade students, with help from their parents, build an amazing cake in the shape of New Jersey, and also put on an “Immigration Fair” every May, portraying various famous American immigrants.

Looking back on her many years at Westfield Friends School, Martino feels that the strong relationships she made with fellow teachers, students and their families are the highlights of her teaching career.

Many alumni come back to visit throughout the school year and always make their way to her fourth grade classroom (the exact same room where she attended fourth grade) for a chat, a snack or a word of advice or encouragement.

They find a warm welcome, a listening ear and a big hug.

What more could you ask for from your favorite teacher?

The attached images were provided by Westfield Friends School