Long-Time Teacher Retiring After 40 Years; McAleer Been At Showell Since It Opened In 1976

SHOWELL – It’s not unusual for first-grade teacher Toni McAleer to let her students take books from her classroom library home. After more than four decades in front of the chalkboard, she knows it’s one of those little things that helps turn her students into avid readers. That’s why it’s the way she’d like to end her 45-year teaching career.

“I hope I hear ‘Mrs. McAleer can I take a book home tonight?’’ she said this week. “I plan to say yes 18 times.”

McAleer will say goodbye to her students for the final time Friday as she retires after 40 years at Showell Elementary School.

“I just decided it was time to take a new path in life,” McAleer said.

McAleer, a Newark resident, has been a fixture at the school since it opened in 1976. She still recalls the excitement she and her peers felt as Wilda Stroh, Showell’s first principal, tasked them with opening a brand new school.

“She told us we were hand-picked to start the school,” McAleer said. “We got to build the character of the school from the beginning.”

She’s proud of the fact nearly half a century later the school has the same values it did in 1976. Respect is the rule, and McAleer tries to model an “attitude of gratitude” for her students. She says what she’ll miss about the school is its unique atmosphere.

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