Walker Memorial Teacher Reflects On 20 Years

AVON PARK - Walker Memorial Academy's yearbook theme this year is - "60 Years and Still Strong - Why Stop Now?"

That's ironic because Walker Memorial teacher and yearbook sponsor Jeannette Zesch is retiring at the end of the school year after teaching 20 years at the Seventh-day Adventist school.
The yearbooks were being counted out Tuesday to assure that each of the school's 245 students will receive a copy today.

It's the largest one to date and it's in full color, including all the advertisements, Zesch said.
Zesch was born and raised in Affton, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.

She earned a degree in liberal arts from the University of Missouri and as a senior she developed an interest in journalism. Zesch was one of three senior women who were elected to a conference board. The responsibility of the board was to bring in women speakers to the university.

Zesch worked with the university's journalism school to bring in Eleanor Roosevelt and financial reporter Sylvia Porter as keynote speakers during a week-long event.

"I said 'hey this is really neat, I'm going to get a degree in journalism,'" Zesch said. "My major was magazines so that fits the genre of yearbooks, I suppose," she added with a laugh.

Zesch taught in public schools in Missouri and also taught at another Seventh-day Adventist school for eight years, Mountain View Academy, in Mountain View, Calif.

She had vacationed in Florida so when she decided to leave California, Zesch moved to the Sunshine State. With her experience teaching at a Seventh-day Adventist school, Zesch applied at Walker Memorial Academy and got the job.

"I've had my mother and father move down and my sister and brother in-law and my cousins, so I've got the whole family here now," she said.

She's not calling her departure from the classroom "retiring." She calls it "retooling."
Zesch explained she loves teaching, but she is going to spend more time with her family and her mother who is nearly 90 years old.

"Otherwise I'd still be working on the 21st yearbook," she said.

Walker Memorial Principal William Farmer said "Jeannette is a natural born teacher. Her care and concern and compassion for her students is so amazing - it's what makes her a great teacher.

On May 3, the school and church honored her with a reception with about 250 people in attendance to celebrate her 20 years of teaching junior and high school English to about 1,400 students.
With many former students attending, "It was a sentimental journey for sure," Zesch said.