Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 6.4.14

14 | JUNE 4, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Familiar Endings, New Beginnings

The end of the school year marks

fresh starts for students and

teachers

By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon

As spring turns into summer, it’s a time of endings
and new beginnings; classes are let out and high school
seniors move on to new pursuits, while longtime teach-

ers walk the halls for the last time as staf and prepare
for a new phase of life in retirement.
It’s bittersweet, ripe with the potential for the fu-
ture and memories of the past.
At Glacier High School, senior Devon Zander is on
the launching pad for a major adventure: in the fall, she
will attend Stanford University to study chemistry or
human biology, perhaps both.

Stanford was her top choice, Zander, 18, said, and
she found out last December she was accepted. If it was
a surprise to her, she was alone.
“She’s probably one of the brightest students I’ve
ever taught,” chemistry teacher Todd Morstein said.
“She’s just very, very talented.”
Zander moved to Kalispell with her family – mom

Melanie, dad Kirk and older brother Mitch – when she
was 4 years old, growing up in the school system and
among the natural wonders of the Flathead Valley.
She had always enjoyed science in grade and middle
school, but taking chemistry and biology her freshman
year cemented her passion for it.
“It’s interesting how it explores the world we’re in,”
Zander said. “If you have a question, science can an-

swer it.”
That interest translated to a successful high school
career, with a 4.0 GPA and Advanced Placement class-
es. Zander is also the student body president, and takes
time to tutor others as well.
At Stanford, Zander hopes to study previous sci-
entiic discoveries but also perhaps make new ones of
her own. Until she moves to California at the end of the

summer, Zander intends on making more memories in
the Flathead, like hiking her favorite trail to Iceberg
Lake in Glacier National Park.
“Hopefully I’m just hiking around and having as
much fun in the valley as I can before I go,” Zander said.
Pat Ashworth, a special education teacher at Flat-
head High School, understands the importance of be-

ing where you love. A teacher for 40 years, Ashworth TOP: Flathead High School’s Pat Ashworth is retiring after 40 years of teaching. BOTTOM: Devon Zander, of Glacier High
has spent the last 14 years of her career at Flathead School, is headed to college at Stanford University. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
High, working with students who have a rougher go of
their high school years due to learning or emotional
diiculties.
with students is to be honest and straightforward when ing in its potential, but Ashworth said it’s going to take
A graduate of University of Connecticut, Ashworth
it comes to both the positive and the negative aspects some time to get used to her new life.
initially started working with such populations as a of life.
“I’m truly going to miss this,” she said. “I look for-
pre-med student, but realized she wanted to be more If a parent needs a call for an update about their ward to coming to work every day.”

involved in their lives.
child every day, then she’ll give them a call every day, Retirement means more time outdoors with her
“Treating from the outside seemed a lot more sen- Ashworth said. And if a student is given certain param- husband, she said, and working on their ranch all 12
sible,” Ashworth said.
eters and they break the rules, the consequences have months of the year. But irst, they’re taking a well-de-
Since then, she’s worked with every student grade to be consistent.
served break and heading to hike the Swiss Alps for a
level, from pre-kindergarten to college. Her favorite, “Always do what you say you’re going to do,” Ash- couple of weeks.
she acknowledged, is where she’s been for the last de- worth said. “I’m the same person every day for these After taking time away, Ashworth is sure she’ll
cade and a half.
kids and their parents.”
come back to teaching in some form, whether that’s

“I’ve always been drawn to the high school level,” Ashworth and her husband, Bob, fell in love with mentoring new teachers or writing about her experi-
she said. “I like to be able to help them see that they can the Flathead in 1981, during their honeymoon. Their ences. She also plans on taking classes, because her
do this.”
truck broke down in Glacier Park, and they spent some love for learning is still strong.
It’s a job that ofers constant challenge and reward, unplanned time in the valley.
“I love it,” she said. “I always have, and I’m sure I
she said. Many of the students and their parents are They bought their irst vacation home here in 1982, always will.”
used to having to ight to get a solution they can work and moved here permanently in 2000. They have a It’s easy to see Ashworth’s expertise will be missed
with, and Ashworth is happy to help work with them ranch, with 14 longhorn cattle, three horses, and myri- at Flathead; for her retirement, she received a shirt
and show them there won’t be a ight with her.
ad other animals.
hanging in her oice that simply says, “Keep Calm and

“Our job is to show them success,” she said.
Leaving the world she’s lived in most of her life – she Let Pat Ashworth Handle It.”
One of the big lessons she’s learned about working
started teaching at age 21, right out of college – is excit-
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