Retirement Q & A

Three BHS staff members are taking decorations off their walls as they start to wrap up their last year before retirement.

Lizzy Kerzman, Assistant Editor|May 24, 2023

Thinking big. Current BHS English teacher Andrea Delzer is starting to plan how she will keep herself busy during retirement. She has always enjoyed stargazing, and staring this summer, she will have more time to pursue. “I’m always looking up at the sky and stars.”

Mrs. Andrea Delzer
Q-How long have you worked at BHS?
A- I started in November of 91.
Q-How long have you been a teacher?
A-I was home with kids for 15 years. And then I picked up a minor in secondary ed
Q-Where else have you taught?
A-I have taught summer school in South Central. I did work in the LD (Learning Disabilities) room for the first year and worked in the LD room at Century before that
Q-What all have you taught?
A-Newspaper, yearbook and broadcast-we had one camera that has to be plugged into the wall. So anything that happened had to happen next to electrical socket. Mostly junior English. I’ve taught foundation classes for years and years and years. So it’s kind of a nice mix.
Q-Best part about teaching?
A-Absolutely the kids.
Q-What will you miss the most?
A- For the last 34 years, my whole day has been focused on teaching. I’m going to miss the structure. I’m going to miss that constant interaction with kids.
Q-What are your plans for retirement?
A-I’m always looking up at the sky.
Q-What makes BHS so special?
A-I love the architecture, I love the history, and of course, by this point in my career, I love the stories. It’s just always been such a big friendly, diverse place.
Q-Why did you decide to retire?
A-I’m 71 and it seemed like a good idea. Also the country roads were
so bad this year.
Q-What is the biggest accomplishment of your career?
A-Everybody does the best they can, and you move on. We’re just in it for the kids.

 

Teaching continues. Even during the last week of school, BHS English teacher Kathleen Lord-Olson is still continuing her passion for teaching. Even after retiring and leaving North Dakota, she plans to carry on teaching somewhere. “I’m really good at teaching, God gave me a gift,” Lord-Olson said. “And I’m still young enough that I can either work at a church or in a prison.”

Mrs. Kathleen Lord-Olson
Q-How long have you worked at BHS?
A-30 years
Q-How long have you been a teacher?
A-I taught summer school at South Central High School. Then in August, I was highered here.
Q-What all have you taught?
A-Communications I and II, English 10, English 12, AP English 12.
Q-Best part about teaching?
A-Seeing the understanding on the faces of a student, especially when doing a difficult piece of literature. Seeing the connection then it manifesting in the writing of the student.
Q-What will you miss the most?
A-The students. The students here are the most special people ever. There’s something about our student body that is like a family. Diverse, yet unified, and selfless.
Q-What will you not miss
A-Lack of mental health resources for students.
Q-What are your plans for retirement?
A-We bought a lake home in Minnesota about 9 months ago. I would love to get involved either in working at a church, because ministry is very important to me, or teaching in a prison has always been a calling to me. Our daughter and her husband will only be about an hour and a half away from them, so we will be able to be closer to them.
Q-Bucket list place to travel?
A-My husband and I want to see all 50 states, that’s super important to us. Until we have seen all 50 states, we have no desire to go outside of the States. We only have Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington state left.
Q-What is the biggest accomplishment of your career?
A-I’m really good at teaching. God gave me a gift. I have always been a god writer and analyst of literature, and I’m proud of the fact that I can get those ideas across to students who struggle and the most, academically intrigued students, like in AP.

 

Slowing down. For the past 31 years, BHS Activities Directer Scott Nustad has been hustling around Bismarck Public Schools. As the school year starts winding down, Nustad is getting a glimpse of retired life. “You don’t know what’s going to happen the next minute of each day, there’s nothing really set in stone for my daily work,” Nustad said. “Things will slow down quite a bit, I’m sure.”

Mr. Scott Nustad
Q-Best part about being at BHS?
A-I’ve been to obviously a number of different schools and they’ve been great, but our kids, our community inside the building and our climate is just second to none.
Q-What will you miss the most?
A-I will miss the constant interaction with kids. That constant busyness, which is good white noise and constant noise, I think I’m going to miss that a lot.
Q-What will you not miss?
A-Yeah, there’s always those negative things that I won’t miss. Those late-night phone calls that a bus is down or an official that didn’t show up for a game, or the complaint phone calls-there aren’t many of them but there are some-I won’t miss those kinds of headaches.
Q-What are your plans for retirement?
A-Right now my wife and I live in town and we’re going to stay in town. Two of my three kids live in Bismarck, and I have three grandkids who I’ll help run around. I’ll probably be golfing, picking up some officiating jobs, and spending a lot of time doing outdoor work.
Q-Bucket list place to travel?
A-The east coast of Maine is a big place that I like to visit again. My parents have a place in Arizona, and my wife and I like to hike so we’re trying to go to as many national parks in the United States that we can hike in.
Q-What is the biggest accomplishment of your career?
A-I think one of the biggest accomplishments or real awards that I received was from Jilee Gulas-a student of ours that played basketball, cross country and track for us-her senior night of basketball two years ago, she and her auntie gifted me a Native American blanket after the game. Something like that always means a lot. It means family, respect and dignity.