With a smile and a tear, Nelleke Vos-Kroeze (69) said goodbye as a teacher. Almost half a century she taught at school 59 in Nieuw-Buinen.
Nelleke was 19 years old when she started as a kindergarten teacher, then still in a building behind the school. Whatever changed afterwards, she continued to work at school 59 for the rest of her career. But a student shortage has now arrived from Nelleke’s pension. Because of that shortage, the school will definitely close its doors.
“In October I would have been a teacher for 50 years, but I am not going to get that,” says Nelleke. “That is of course very unfortunate, but I also remain sober. I am grateful for the fact that I was allowed to work at this school for so long. I did it with love, it was fantastic.”
Her farewell as a teacher at school 59 did not quietly pass. “I had a wonderful farewell, a kind of pension party. It was a reunion with a huge number of people and I am very spoiled with all kinds of presents and compliments.”
This was followed by the last day of school, with the necessary emotions. “Then we really said goodbye to each other with a circus performance. And then you see some parents cry. I tried to keep myself strong, but also with me there were tears. Yes, it’s not nothing either, isn’t it?”
“Fortunately, the farewell did not suddenly come. I had known for quite some time that the school would close, so I was able to work there. My colleagues are of course looking for a different place, but for me it is now over. It is a shame, because it is a great school.”
Nelleke is not worried about the interpretation of her free time. “I’m not really planning, but I will regularly travel to my three daughters who live in Maastricht, The Hague and Utrecht. And we love Greece, so we go on vacation more often.”
“At home I will occasionally read a book and rumble a bit in the garden. You have a little more time for that. I am entertained, absolutely. And for raid work as a teacher I am available. Then I might still tap those 50 years,” concludes Nelleke.