Faculty, Staff Retire after Many Years at Graland

Inara Humeyumptewa is literally a legend here at Graland. She not only served in our library for 34 years, but prior to that she was a Graland parent. Her sons Aleks and Eriks are both alumni as well as three grandchildren Vilnis, Zile and Rasa.

 

Inara started out to be an anthropologist and archaeologist. Instead, she started a family and began volunteering on campus at Graland. In 1980, the Head of School tapped her for a job in the library.

 

One of the highlights of her career is working with the equally-legendary Katie Dodge, and Inara still remembers the scent of rose water and the sound of classical music from that era in the Graland library.

 

As far as Graland traditions, the Southwest Trip will always be dear to the Humeyumptewa family because of their friendship with Nancy Priest '39, the teacher who led this trip for many years. In fact, Inara's husband, who is a native Hopi Indian, sometimes joined the Southwest Trip as a chaperone and guide. 

 

Inara is looking forward to getting her hands dirty in the garden tending her vegetables and fruit trees. She has a long list of "cozy mysteries" to read and will get back into music with her violin, which she has played since third grade, and piano. Inara will also do research on her Latvian family history so she can pass that down to her children. Finally, she gets to be a groupie for her husband's senior citizens band and attend all her grandchildren's activities.

 

Kay Hanson joined our Middle School way back in 1982. Since then, she has kept an impressive bulletin board with photos and cards sent to her from past students, a testament to the love that students and families have for this remarkable woman.

 

Some of Kay’s favorite Graland memories involve the annual Halloween parade and dressing in themes with other staff. Her group costumes have included a school of fish, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and a bookworm. She once posed for a Women of Graland calendar.

 

Kay says she truly enjoyed her work, which is why she has stayed 32 years at Graland. She will miss her colleagues and friends and, of course, the students who have kept her young all these years. Kay is looking forward to leisure time with family and friends. She will also work on a short bucket list with her husband Bob, read, bike and golf. 

 

Not many here at Graland can remember a time when Luayne Lambert was NOT a teacher. She came to Graland in 1988 from Prairie Middle School in Aurora and taught math in our Middle School for 10 years. Later she moved to the Lower School as a math specialist and finally a fourth grade lead teacher. It was in fourth grade that Luayne most left her mark on Graland when she helped start the award-winning Unified Neighborhood Special Olympics program.

 

Luayne knew she wanted to be a teacher at a young age. One of her earliest memories is creating a classroom of dolls in her room at home where she graded their “papers” and kept names and scores in a make-believe grade book. Today, thousands of students can say Mrs. Lambert was their teacher.

 

Luayne is going to take care of herself and do some traveling; she recently visited California for a family reunion. She will keep the books for her husband's masonry business and practice some creative cooking. Lucky for us, Luayne will most enjoy her role as a Graland grandma visiting Marleigh in second grade. 

 

Librarian Tiina Brown’s only regret is that she did not write down all the funny and endearing things that Graland students have said to her over her 16 years in the library. She DOES remember one “pre-first” boy asking her where the “inappropriate” books are located. That was her first year at Graland in 1998, and there has been so much joy in her work ever since.

 

As a child in Finland, Tiina's parents were the teachers of a little three-room country school in a remote village. Her dad started a library for the villagers with about 200 books, and Tiina read those titles over and over again. Once she got to college at the University of Kansas, Tiina’s student job was as a library assistant, and the rest is history.

 

Tiina will most miss sharing her knowledge of film with third graders during her unit on silent movies. The next chapter in Tiina’s book will have her traveling to local and international film festivals, including a recent film festival in Finland where she fulfilled a lifelong dream. She continues to volunteer her expertise in the library.

 

A native of Brussels, Belgium, Monique Lathrop has known she wanted to be a teacher since the age of 6. Her own French teacher, Mademoiselle Carmon, had a tremendous influence on her as well.

 

Monique began her Graland career in 2001 and says she will miss the energy of Graland students, their enthusiasm for learning, and their character. One of her favorite memories, however, is how the kids made fun of how she pronounced “backpack” to the point that Monique took that word out of her vocabulary lessons!

 

Monique is starting a new career as a English to French translator. She is working for United Nations and the National Language Service Corps, a division of the Department of Defense. At any time, she could be called up to work with traveling US officials or the FBI or the CIA. What an adventure! She is also on our substitute list and meets with a group of Spanish language learners on the Graland campus. 

 

Lorrie Margolin came to Graland in 2002 from Temple Emanuel Preschool. When you talk to her, it’s clear that Lorrie loves children and loves teaching. She started here as an assistant in the third grade, where her favorite unit was Colorado history. She most enjoyed the Chief Mountain hike and visiting the Plains Conservation Center. As a first grade assistant teacher, Lorrie thrived when she lead small reading groups and was known for her enthusiasm when teaching.

 

Lorrie and her husband David have monthly visits planned to Portland where they visit their grandson. This summer they went abroad to explore London. Between gardening, painting and reading a lot of suspense novels, Lorrie is thinking about becoming a docent again at the Denver Zoo. And she is back here at Graland every afternoon to work in the aftercare program. 

 

Lorrie will best be remembered for her feathered friend, Sweet Pea, who lived in Graland classrooms for 10 years until his death last year.  

 

Sherry Sedgwick served all her years at Graland in the Lower School, where she was a beloved support teacher in Grade 4 and Kindergarten. Before coming to Graland, Sherry was a teacher at Temple Emanuel for many years where she worked in the preschool and second grade.

 

Sherry is best known for creating a loving and cooperative classroom environment where students could thrive, learn and grow. She was a consistently well-prepared teacher who used effective teaching strategies to meet student needs for differentiation. Every day, Sherry demonstrated a genuine concern for her students and colleagues.