Jan Jirik poses with students

Jan Jirik poses with students at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Savage. COURTESY JAN JIRIK

In 39 years teaching physical education at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Savage, Jan Jirik has had nine principals and 14 second-generation families. Now the grandma of soon-to-be six is retiring.

Q) The rhythms of the school year must be deeply embedded in you!

A) I’m a routine person. That keeps me motivated. I’m going to miss the rhythm. My plans are to wake up when I wake up, have my cup of coffee, and now I will actually get to sit and read the newspaper, instead of waiting to read it after school. And I can go for a walk in the morning. I love walking.

Q) Any new things you’ll be doing?

A) I’ll be spending more time with my dad, who’s 89. That’ll be good. And I’ll be watching my grandkids if they’re sick so my daughters can keep teaching. Grandkids keep you young! You’re moving the whole time. They’ll say to me, “Grandma, set up (gym) stations for us!”

Q) What’s it like to see your students make such progress in gym glass?

A) I’m a believer in kids. If you encourage them enough and they’re willing to take it in, they really do improve. Just to see their whole body go, “I’ve got this!” It’s worth all the years of trying to help them. I am a hopeful person.

Q) Did your teaching style change once you became a mom?

A) I think you become more nurturing. Now I hear kids say I’m like their grandma. This is my happy place, here in the gym.

Q) You’re part of a great school community and a great neighborhood.

A) When we moved in our house in Savage, we moved on May 1, and our neighbors came in and brought us a May Day basket. I’ll never forget that! A community like mine makes a difference. It’s that feeling of, “This works. This fits.” It takes some of the stress out of your life.

Q) How do you make like St. Francis of Assisi in the gym, preaching the Gospel and using words when necessary?

A) You have to set them up first with words and talk about encouraging each other. I always tell them, “Please tell each other ‘good game.’” Then the older kids carry it through. Now it’s “GG” (for good game).

Q) And when gym class ends, as part of a daily assessment, they reflect on how they did.

A) When they line up to leave, they give me a thumbs up, a thumbs down or sideways.And sometimes I make mistakes. I don’t have a problem apologizing to kids, finding them later and saying: “Sorry, but this is how I took it. I know now that’s not the case.” We talk about it.

Q) How did COVID-19 challenge you in your final year of teaching?

A) It was the hardest year of my career. My tech skills are remedial at best. Initially, I lost confidence in how I teach because all these younger techie people around me were doing all these cool things for distance learning. It was a lot of prayer and self-talk, and I came to the realization that I had to take my own advice to the kids: Do your best and finish.

I learned a lot about what other phy-ed teachers are doing with these webinars they posted. It was a time of growth, and I probably needed that. It made me work hard again. When we did two weeks of distance learning after Christmas, I actually had fun with it.

It’s been a different year, and we’re still trying to be creative. We tried a new game called Pickle Ball. My maintenance man put up nets in the church parking lot, from light to light. It’s like tennis, only you use a paddle. Four parking spots was one court.

Q) What will you miss most?

A) I’ll miss the people. It’s the people in your life that really count. The students gave me purpose and all the positive hours in a day. Five years ago, when my mom died from Alzheimer’s, I told the news to a sixth-grade class first hour. They gave me a big group hug before I left. That was just what I needed to make it through.

Q) What helps you look back on your life and cull some of the lessons? Do you journal?

A) When I lost my mom, I decided I was going to journal to her. So, on her birthday, on Christmas, on St. Patrick’s Day and on Mother’s Day, I sit down and write to her, updating her on what’s going on and how my dad’s been getting along. I talk about our growing family. And I get a chance to thank her there too — which, I don’t know how much I said thank you to her. I go on for pages! It’s healing.

Q)  When did you start this ritual?

A) I started when my sisters and I took a 12-day bus trip through Ireland in honor of my mom, who was 100 percent Irish. I began the journal on that trip, describing things to her. We talked to her throughout the trip. If we were in a beautiful place, we’d say, “Here we are, Patsy.”