After 34 years, The Meadows School’s first teacher retires

Take that notion, remove the alcohol, change the setting from a bar to the halls of The Meadows School, and that’s pretty much what life is like for kindergarten teacher Linda Verbon.

Verbon, founder of the school’s kindergarten program and the first faculty member ever hired at the school, retired in July, concluding a 34-year streak of bringing into her classroom humor, music, encouragement and an unswerving belief that her students could accomplish anything.

Not to mention a definite rock star vibe. As Verbon walked the halls during a visit last week, children regularly broke from their single-file lines to give Verbon a hug while kids at their desks flashed surreptitious waves and smiles her way.

Verbon, 73, was born in Medford, Oregon, and grew up in Bremerton, Washington. Prompted by her enjoyment of teaching Sunday school, Verbon studied education at what was then Central Washington State College and began her teaching career in Renton, Washington. Positions followed in San Luis Obispo, California, and Washington State before Verbon moved to Las Vegas in the early ’70s.

She spent 12 years teaching first- and second-graders in the Clark County School District. When The Meadows School opened in 1984, Verbon was the first teacher whom founder (and now Las Vegas Mayor) Carolyn Goodman hired. Verbon had taught Goodman’s four children first grade at George E. Harris Elementary School.

At The Meadows, Verbon not only taught kindergarten but developed the curriculum for the school’s full-day kindergarten, in a pioneering expansion of the then-standard half-day class.

Verbon brought to her work “passion for educating children and inspiring them to learn and to love to learn,” Goodman says, as well as a “total understanding of how important her role is in the life of a child’s learning and behavioral development.”

Verbon’s retirement caps a teaching career that spanned 51 years, 34 of them spent at The Meadows School. And even though she’s technically retired, Verbon probably will be no stranger: Less than a month into the new school year, she’s already returned for a sub assignment and student testing.

Review-Journal: What was it like to not be here on the first day of school?

Verbon: I really had mixed emotions about it. This has been my life.

Full-day kindergarten was a novel concept you developed. What prompted you to leave the relative security of a public school job to move to a brand-new private school?

Because it’s a challenge. It’s something that had never been done before. I love challenges like that. We had two kindergartens when the school first opened, a full-day kindergarten and a half-day kindergarten. When they saw what was going on with full-day kindergarten, which I taught, they had to extend the half-day by another hour every day so that it would be comparable with skills (students) had going into first grade.

Kids that young were up for a full day of instruction?

Absolutely. I’ve never known a child who did not want to learn to read. You just have to be able to get them to that point, and sometimes you have to really work at it. It doesn’t come easy for all children, but you don’t give up on them. You keep working.

Your students over the years probably have had some high-profile parents. Care to dish?

(Laughs) Oh, I don’t think I should.

How have kids changed during your career?

With the children, I have seen so much of this texting. If you go to a restaurant and see a family, everybody has a phone and nobody’s talking or communicating with each other anymore. It bothers me when I see that. It’s good (kids are) using computers and things like that, but you’ve got to keep that oral communication.

And parents?

I’ve never had parents who didn’t want to cooperate. They want to know, “What are you doing to help my child?” not just a teacher saying, “Your child needs to have this and this and this.” They want to know what I’m doing.

Those early years at The Meadows School must have been fascinating.

When we first went for P.E., we went to the Y. We were on buses, and kindergarten children had actual gym clothes they had to change into. Well, if you’ve ever seen kindergartners, they kind of stand there and expect you to change them. So when you have 20 kindergartners, by the time they got changed into their gym outfits, it was time to get them back into their clothes and back to school. (Laughs) So we did away with gym outfits and decided they weren’t a good idea.

Getting to know: Linda Verbon

Currently obsessed with …

If I’ve made the right decision (to retire). I think I have, but it still goes through my mind.

Place I always take visitors

I always bring them to The Meadows School.

Favorite music

I love classical music. But, then, I love the music from the ’60s. The Beatles and the Doors, all of those were great.

Pet

She’s a shih tzu. Her name is Chryssi, short for chrysanthemum because her face looks like the flower.

Favorite vacation destination

I always like going back home because I can see my friends and my family.

Favorite sports teams

The Seahawks and the Mariners.

Favorite movie

“The Sound of Music.”

I never leave home without …

My cup of coffee in hand.

Food I could eat every day

Salads. I love salads.

Where I would live if I didn’t live in Las Vegas

Probably back in Washington state.

Special talent

I’d say my talent is singing with the children at school. We sang every day.

Favorite indulgence

Well, I like playing bingo …

Contact John Przybys at jprzybys @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280. Follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.