She has five decades of teaching tales

A stock water tank and a giant Coca-Cola bottle replica contained most of the one million pop can tabs Wright Elementary School students collected back in the late 1980s. The collection was to be recycled for cash, with the money donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis, a place where families can stay while children receive medical treatment.

An appreciative Ronald McDonald himself came to the tiny school on a snowy day in February and entertained the students for the afternoon.

"People still give me pop tabs," said Jennie Hanson, fourth-grade teacher at the time and the organizer of the event. "I had the kids count the pop tabs in each plastic bag of them that they brought in. We needed 500 bags with 2,000 pop tabs in each bag to reach a million. When we spread out those 500 bags, they almost covered the whole floor."

It was just one memory Hanson reflected upon this month when considering a second retirement from teaching. After teaching for three decades, she retired in 1999. She's been substitute-teaching since. Now, with subs not needed due to distance learning, Hanson is thinking about her future.

She fills in at Cromwell and Floodwood for all grades, 60 to 80 days a year.

"I've enjoyed subbing over the years," she said. "I've gotten to see the kids go from kindergarten to graduation. I miss subbing now," she said. "I was just thinking a few days ago that I am done for this year. My license goes until 2021 but I haven't decided yet if I am going to continue."

Endurance

Hanson leaves quite a legacy in her wake, including that remarkable pop tab feat. Lea Tiili-Anderson, a special education reading teacher in Cromwell, still has students collect tabs. Tiili-Anderson was one of Jennie's fourth-grade students. She took over organizing the collecting when Hanson retired.

"It was really special that she continued it," Hanson said. "People still give me pop tabs. I can't throw them away."

She began teaching in January 1968 and retired in June 1999.

"I never interviewed for a job," she said. When she graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Cromwell superintendent Norman Loveid asked her to teach in the district.

Jennie and her husband, Bob, raised a family of three boys while she was teaching.

"My oldest, Philip, was born 49 years ago on May 16," she said. "I only missed a week-and-a-half of school after he was born. He lives across the road from us now."

In the next nine years, the Hansons had two more sons: Garrie, who lives in Cloquet, and Curtis, who lives in California. The Hansons have two grandchildren, Garrie's children.

"Curtis is coming home to help us celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on the 30th, Jennie said.

Community service

Another program Jennie started while teaching was the Foster Grandparent program at Villa Vista, an assisted living facility in Cromwell. Her students would adopt a grandparent at the facility and visit them over their school years.

Since retiring, Jennie has been an active member of the Retired Educators Association of Minnesota for 20 years. She was nominated and elected the state president for the organization in 2018.

"Our mission is to protect the salaries and benefits for the teachers," she said. "When the organization started 65 years ago, it was pretty tough for teachers. They barely got anything. Last year we were successful in getting a bill passed to protect the pensions of teachers. That could be an issue again in the fall. It depends on the economy."

Jennie said that she usually travels four times a year for meetings now that she is president, and meets with the executive committee several times a year.

"We had our last meeting on Zoom," she said. "It was neat. I really appreciated not having that 3-hour drive to get home."

Hanson's term ends in September.

"I'm not going to run for another term," she said. "I've enjoyed it, but there would be less stress not being president."

Jennie is concerned about the organization.

"There are only about eight or 10 of us members out of over 400 retired educators in Carlton County," she said. "They are not joiners."

Retired Carlton first-grade teacher JoAnne Pearson got to know Hanson through the Carlton County organization. She said Hanson is the real deal.

"She walks the walk," Pearson said. "She's helped a lot of people, a lot of children. She must have been a wonderful teacher. And she volunteers - I think she's head of every charity she's part of."

Hanson is also a writer. She has been writing a weekly column for local newspapers about the events and activities in the Wright-Cromwell area since 1986. The Wright-Cromwell News column is featured weekly in the Pine Knot News.

As president of the retired educators association, Jennie compiled a book of stories from retired teachers called "Stories of the Past."

"Thirty-five members told their teaching stories from over the years," she said. "Some had to quit teaching when they got married. Others had to quit teaching when they had a baby. That was the case when I had my first baby, but Norman Loveid's wife was an educated woman and he told me that I had to keep teaching. They needed good teachers."

Jennie has not only been active in the teaching profession, she is also very active in the community. She was named an Outstanding Senior Citizen of Carlton County in 2017 and was honored at the Carlton County Fair that August.

"My life has been enjoyable and fulfilling," she said.