Many people may retire when they reach the age of 65, but probably not too many do so after working more than 40 years at the same job.
However, that is just what Sherry Kelley did. She turned 65 in December 2014 and retired this month after 44 years with the Benton School District.
She said she started teaching first grade at Howard Perrin Elementary School in 1971. She became the librarian, now known as “the media specialist,” in 1994.
She received a special retirement gift from her co-workers, a “Wall of Flowers” poster with this sentiment: “You have changed the world — because you have touched our lives.”
“I’ve been a little teary this week,” she told visitors on June 1.
She was also honored at a banquet, along with others retiring from the school district.
“My whole family came to that,” she said. “I loved that.”
Kelley and her husband, Jim, have been married since 1971.
They have two children.
Their daughter, Meredith Kelley Hankins, 39, and her husband, Ryan, live in Birmingham, Alabama. They have two daughters, Audrey, 10, and Lucy, 3. Meredith is a speech pathologist who works with preschoolers and babies, and Ryan is director of M-Power Ministries.
The Kelleys’ son, Jonathan Kelley, 34, and his wife, Lauren, live in Little Rock. Jonathan is associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock, and Lauren is a stay-at-home mom. They have two children, Spencer, 6, and Evelyn, 3 1/2.
Sherry Kelley was born and raised in Benton. She is the only child of the late Jesse and Joan Chastain.
Kelley graduated from Benton High School in 1967. She attended Westside Elementary School and Benton Junior High School.
“When I was in eighth grade, part of the junior high school burned,” she said. “They finished an addition to the high school, and we were the first ninth-grade class to be a part of the senior high school. We were a very close class.”
Jim Kelley was also born and raised in Benton. He retired about five years ago from the Veterans Administration hospital.
Sherry Kelley graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a minor in library science. She also received the Student Teacher of the Year Award.
She received her master’s degree in early childhood education from OBU in 1974.
Kelley said she always wanted to be a teacher.
“I played school when I was a kid,” she said.
“My mom worked in a bank after I went to college,” Kelley said. “My dad was the manager of the body shop at the old Thomas Auto here in Benton.
“I was the first one in the family to have a college degree,” she said.
Kelley said she has seen a lot of changes over the past 40-plus years.
“When I first started teaching first grade, there was no air-conditioning,” she said, smiling. “I had 28 children in the class. I was lucky if one or two of them had been in kindergarten, so the first semester of the year would be a lot like kindergarten.
“Now, our children learn so many things at younger and younger ages,” she said. “And the size of the classes are limited. There are only 20 students in kindergarten, 25 in first grade.”
Kelley said she “loved those days” of teaching first grade.
“I had Bear Country,” she said. “I had a model of it (the logo for Bear Country). I used a stencil and covered it with Contact paper. I sewed bows on it for the girls and buttons for the boys. I used [the model] to give for special events.”
Kelley said that when she moved to the library in fall 1994, she missed her “homeroom mothers.”
“But I got volunteers for the library,” she said. “That filled my void.”
Kelley said she “automated,” or updated, the library herself.
“I still used a typewriter. That was right after computers first came out,” she said.
“Now the books are so beautiful. … The printing is so different. The books have larger pictures that entice the children to read,” Kelley said.
“In the last 20 years, the world has changed so much,” she said, adding that the library does now offer some e-books.
“I still hope children will always want to hold a book,” she said.
“We have two book fairs a year with Scholastic [Inc.],” she said. “We’ve won a few honors with our book fairs. Any profit we make from the book fairs goes back into the library to buy more books.”
Kelley said the library also distributes Charlie Mae Simon awards.
“I am so proud of our … library. It is the center point for all children to come and get books,” Kelley said.
“I gave birth to this library. It’s real important to me,” she said.
“I have loved every child,” Kelley said. “I remember all of the stories. So many children come back to me and say, ‘I loved when you read out loud to us. It’s like our grandmothers reading to us.’
“One mother told me her kids all wanted me as a first-grade teacher. She said they thought I was the ‘cool new teacher’ that everybody wanted. They thought I had new ideas.”
Kelley said she has been asked to return to the school as a substitute teacher.
“I haven’t decided yet. I need to adjust to being away from it first,” she said.
“This was a hard decision for me to make,” Kelley said of retiring. “I waited until the last day to do it. … I still have a lump in my throat when I talk about it.”
Stacye Shelnut, principal at Howard Perrin Elementary School, has known Kelley for a long time.
“I simply cannot imagine life at Howard Perrin without Mrs. Kelley,” Shelnut said. “I went to Howard Perrin as a student, and Mrs. Kelley was a first-grade teacher when I was in first grade here, … so I literally have no memories of Howard Perrin without her in them.
“She will be greatly missed,” Shelnut said. “I am so proud of her for such an accomplishment — 42 years at the same school is a huge one — and I wish her nothing but happiness in her retirement.”
Kelley is a member of Holland Chapel Baptist Church, Delta Kappa Gamma teaching sorority and the Saline County Retired Teachers Association.
She said she has a “honey-do” list to work on after retirement.
“I also want to travel some,” she said, adding that she plans to rest for a little while. “After I’m rested, I plan to see my grandchildren more. My daughter already has two trips planned for me … two baby-sitting trips,” Kelley said.