Educator of the Year Janice Krahenbuhl has taught for 40 years
and is preparing to retire in June
Gilroy – Janice Krahenbuhl didn’t plan on teaching – at least not for 40 years.
Like the other women she knew, Krahenbuhl pictured herself quitting the profession once she had children. But her plan didn’t exactly pan out.
“I got hooked,” she said.
That love of all things teaching has not gone unnoticed. On Monday, Krahenbuhl was honored as Educator of the Year by the Gilroy Economic Development. In February she will receive a $1,000 check during the Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner.
Krahenbuhl spent most of her more than 40-year teaching career at Rucker Elementary School. For eight years she worked as the math resource teacher at Rucker, taught at El Roble Elementary School for four years and then returned to Rucker.
But all those years in the classroom haven’t worn down the 69-year-old teacher. She may be nearing the end of her teaching career – she’s retiring in June – but this woman is as lively as a teacher fresh out of school.
“She’s very energetic,” said Marlene Manzo, a Rucker teacher and one of the locals who nominated Krahenbuhl. “She’s a life-long learner. She’s always trying new things. She’s just incredible.”
Manzo speaks from experience. Krahenbuhl taught her, her children and has worked with her for the past 18 years. The two teachers are both part of Rucker’s gifted and talented program, so they collaborate their work.
On Thursday, Krahenbuhl’s energy was on display as she played a game of math Yahoo with her students. With the aide of a times table, the third-graders shouted out answers to multiplication problems while rolling dice and drawing cards.
When the students got a bit too feisty, Krahenbuhl clapped her hands – they followed her lead and the classroom quieted down.
That math activity is just one example of the creativity Krahenbuhl likes to infuse into teaching. When her students read “Chicken Sunday,” a story about the wide world of food, they get to head to downtown Gilroy and choose a certain type of ethnic food and dine in the park.
They visit the cemetery every year to learn its history. When she talks about quilting, the children get to sew their own.
When they learn about the founding of America, each student is assigned a pilgrim from the Mayflower to study. After researching the pilgrim’s life on the Internet, the students show up dressed in their attire.
“And that’s the way I like to teach,” said Krahenbuhl. “Get the kids really involved.”
These days Krahenbuhl can’t leave the house without seeing one of her students. When she visited Bonfante Gardens recently one of the employees said she’d taught him.
While dining at the Black Bear Diner she doesn’t even have to hand over her I.D. when paying the check.
Her former students have become teachers – Manzo and Gilroy High School teacher Ethan Stocks are just two of the many.
“I’m having the children of the friends of my kids,” she said. “It’s a web. I keep getting kids back.”
With all those memories and the teaching fire still hot, how does Krahenbuhl plan to leave it all behind?
She doesn’t. Krahenbuhl will spend her free time subbing, quilting and being a grandmother.
