Felicia DeMass began teaching in Portage 65 years ago, at the former Garyton School. She retired four years ago, during the pandemic, after all she could see of her first graders was their eyes on a computer screen.
Friday, she finally got her long-overdue retirement celebration during the Jones Elementary School field day.
Kids are normally squirrely as the school year draws to a close, even more so when they get a day outside for fun and games. The noise level was off the charts when they were encouraged to give a loud cheer to a beloved former teacher.
Jennifer Hansen taught first grade alongside DeMass for years as well as being a neighbor. “She is very good with doing hands-on science activities with the kids,” Hansen said.
DeMass would take her students out to the edge of the school campus and beyond, identifying trees so students could work on their leaf collections and, before subdivisions near the school popped up, enjoying a picnic lunch at the pond, explaining about insects and other bits of nature.
Her students were her primary focus at school, but Hansen learned from DeMass as well. Hansen went to her for advice when it was time to talk to parents about a troublesome, complex situation. “She’s just a classy lady who always knew the right thing to say,” Hansen said.
Gwen Colville, a fourth-grade teacher at Jones, has known DeMass for 26 years. “She has a nice blend of basic teaching and keeping up with all the latest technology,” Colville said.
“She values each student and sees their potential in the future,” Colville said. “People remember her as their favorite teacher.”
“Do you know how wonderful it was to teach next to her?” Colville asked.
DeMass is fond of Colville. “I’m her school mom,” DeMass said.
It was Colville who managed to get DeMass back to her former school for the surprise celebration. “I didn’t pay any attention; I just marked it on the calendar,” DeMass said. Colville reminded her about visiting the school during the annual field day to make sure DeMass would be there for her big surprise.
While her fifth graders had a big dance party behind the school, DeMass reflected on her long career.
She began teaching in 1959 at Garyton School. It was a time when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 679. Bread cost 20 cents a loaf. A new car was $2,250. Dwight Eisenhower was president. Barbie and Chatty Cathy were hot new toys. Portage was incorporated as a town that year, not becoming a city until 1968.
Rules for teachers were different then, too. “At that time, every time you had a baby, you had to quit.” DeMass had five kids.
Back then, teaching required a master’s degree plus 30 hours of college. “Once you’re a teacher, it’s not easy to jump jobs,” she said.
“I spent most of my time in first grade,” although she was licensed for kindergarten through third grade.
Class sizes were huge. “My first class, I had 45 children,” she said. That was before the federal Title 1 program and teaching assistants.
She enjoyed exploring nature with her students. “You don’t need a book. You were going through the seasons.”
DeMass’ love of science led to her consideration by NASA for the Challenger space shuttle mission that was planned to take the first teacher to outer space. Children across the country watched that Jan. 28, 1986, launch on televisions wheeled into gymnasiums or classrooms, reacting in horror with the rest of the world as teacher Christa McAuliffe and the rest of the crew went up in smoke just 1 minute and 13 seconds after the launch.
DeMass worked with then-Superintendent Don Bivens on her NASA application. She remembers being at Cape Canaveral, sitting on the grass to watch the launch and the countdown clock.
She still keeps in contact with friends she met from that experience.
“I always liked space and science,” DeMass said, but she loves watching children learn to read.
They need both phonics and sight words as they learn to read. Teaching trends come and go, but there’s one constant: “There’s nothing new in education. It’s just how you present it,” she said.
“I have 18 grandkids and 15 great-grandkids, and that’s the best thing, is to help them learn,” DeMass said.
Well into her 80s, DeMass is still figuring out how to spend the rest of her retirement. “I don’t want to sit home and do nothing,” she said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
