Agnes Strand—a teacher in every sense of the word

At the end of the school year, band teacher Agnes Strand will retire from Chase County Schools, having spent the past 32 years as a teacher in some form or another—be it a substitute in special education, or in her current position teaching the school band. Before we sat down, she showed off a section of the back room, which contains clipped out articles  from the Imperial Republican’s previous coverage of the band. Her voice was alive with pride as she explained many of those past events.
We first spoke about her previous experience before arriving in Imperial. “I originally grew up in New York. Graduated from Fredonia State and began my teaching career in Buffalo,” Strand said. “Then, I moved down here to teach in Venango for three years, which was around when I had my first child. I also subbed some in both Holyoke and Grant. Eventually I chose Imperial because my kids went to school here.”
Many times during our conversation, unprompted, Ms. Strand would remark on how much she appreciated the time she spent being able to teach her students. In her office, she showed off a bulletin board that has photos of her senior students, with personal notes written on the back for mementos. It was clear she hopes to make as much of a positive impression on the student body as she can.
The last thing spoken of was her appreciation that the school maintained classes academies consider frivolous. “I am so proud, because never have we gotten rid of the arts, never have we gotten rid of the shop classes and those hands-on classes,” she explained. “This new administration knows to keep those courses that speak to the inner nature of people and keep quality education in front of our students.”
What really stuck with me after our conversation was something that actually happened at the beginning. As we were sitting down, she reached for a candy bowl and offered me some chocolate. As I selected my Hershey’s Milk Chocolate (the only correct choice) she said to me. “I do this for everyone. I come from a family of nine and I learned that everyone should have their name be remembered.” I find that speaks to a deeply compassionate soul who shared that light of humanity with the young and learning, the purest and most definitive example of the word “Teacher.”