Tarkio R-I staff and students said goodbye to these three with the ending of the 2020-21 school year. Tarkio Elementary teachers Lesley Graves, left, and Lisa Clement, right, and Tarkio R-I Superintendent Karma Coleman, middle, have retired.

By Megan McAdams

Tarkio R-I School District has been very blessed over the years to have some fantastic teachers and administrators who leave a lasting legacy on the hearts of the students and the soul of the school itself. Three of these treasures said goodbye to their students for the last time at the end of the 2020-21 school year. Teachers Lisa Clement and Lesley Graves have been teaching for 30 years or more each, most of those spent in the classrooms of Tarkio.

Lisa and Lesley were what we call the greatest of the great, the “fun” teachers. Not only did you learn something and retain that knowledge in their classes, but you always felt at ease as it was like spending time with your family. They never seemed to age, both in looks and in teaching spirit and at least two generations of students can say they were grateful to be able to call them “their” teachers. For this writer, Lesley was her kindergarten teacher and Lisa her fifth grade teacher.

Even though the day of learning was cut in half (in the beginning years), Lesley’s kindergarten students went away with as much knowledge and fun and love as the kids who went full days, maybe even more. The kindergarten classroom was an oasis, a place where there were exciting learning centers and toys that many didn’t have at home and yet sitting on the floor for circle time or at the desks doing homework was equally as stimulating. You could always count on having a good time with Mrs. Graves and learning something. She always knew how to make everyone laugh and wasn’t afraid to pull a joke on the class. For St. Patrick’s Day in 1991, she hid her students’ scissors and when she told them to pull them out for art time, the class was horrified to discover them missing. In a stern (fake) voice, she warned the students they better find the scissors because they had work to do. Everyone went frantically searching throughout the room and discovered the scissors buried in the sandbox (yes, we had a sandbox in our classroom). Mrs. Graves, in all seriousness, told the students the leprechauns must have hidden the scissors in mischief. We were hooked! When students needed some extra attention, she gave it freely, even allowing an extremely sleepy student to nap in the treehouse if she was falling asleep at their desk. She welcomed speakers to come to the classroom and this is where students first learned about the dangers of drugs from then Tarkio Police Chief Mick McAdams. Her students were 5- and 6-year-olds and thus were children, but Mrs. Graves catered to their growing minds and knew that whatever information was learned at this age would stay with them forever. She still allowed us to be the children we were. And let’s face it, 5- and 6-year-olds do not have filters, nor secrets. To think of the things her students have probably told her over the years… She deserves an award for listening and not passing judgment. Mrs. Graves was an amazing teacher and helped ease hundreds of children into the learning environment of school. So many locals are the hardworking, (and yes, sometimes jokesters) that they are because we had Mrs. Graves guiding us along from the beginning.

For Lisa in the mid 90’s, the fifth grade class was one of the largest in the school (if not the biggest at the time) and the students loved to talk, all the time. They also loved to joke and laugh and quote from movies. Even though they knew they could have a good time in Miss Clement’s class, it was still a learning environment and their behavior must still be good. She allowed students to help with tasks that needed completed around the classroom. She knew how to assist those kids who needed help academically and those who needed support emotionally. We all had those moments where life just seemed too tough at the time and we cracked (a hint, fifth grade was the year many students began to hit puberty). Later on in life, some of her students had the pleasure of working with her as a fellow teacher or in community-related duties and some were even able to explore the world together through student/community school-organized trips. It’s an incredible thing to take such a vacation and witness a whole new country and a completely different continent with a teacher who helped teach you about the world and expand your knowledge and curiosity to learn more (plus having fun during the learning as well). Lisa was first our teacher, and then our friend, and then our companion in helping to educate our youth and community in knowlege and in leadership. She will be greatly missed in the halls and classrooms of Tarkio Elementary.

Lesley Graves

Lesley graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the spring of 1986 with a double major in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Her first job was with the Fort Zumalt School District in St. Charles, Missouri. She taught first grade in a K-2 school where there were nine first grade classes. She was then hired by John Wilcox to teach fourth grade beginning in the fall of 1987 and she spent two years teaching that grade with Lois Powell. She began teaching kindergarten in 1989. It was a half-day program at the time and after a few years, the class was changed to a full-day program. Lesley taught the kindergarten class for 13 years with Jayne Martin. She also taught sixth grade, fourth through sixth grade social studies, special education, and Title 1 Math for several years.

Lesley’s three children attended Tarkio Elementary and she joked, “Thank goodness they had Jayne!” although she did get the pleasure of teaching Social Studies to her daughter, Emily, when she was in the sixth grade. Through the years, Lesley was also a cheer sponsor, junior high play director, helped with the elementary yearbook, and did stats for the volleyball team. She’s also well-known for being the go-to tooth puller.

Lesley said, “I was so happy when I was asked to teach kindergarten for my final year!! I will miss the children and all of my friends at school. Lisa and I are planning to spend time in the pool this summer!”

Lisa Clement

Lisa Clement graduated from NWMSU in the spring of 1991 with a double major in EL and MS Ed. and a double minor in Math (fourth-eighth) and English (seventh-ninth). Following graduation, she took her first job in the fall teaching third grade at Fairfax. She later became the seventh-eighth grade math and English and freshman English teacher. She also had to teach a few other high school English classes, so she went back and picked up her 10th-12th English certification. She taught that position for two years. She later moved back to the elementary side, teaching fourth grade, and she also started coaching cheerleading.

After four years at Fairfax, she made the move to Tarkio R-I to teach fifth grade with her own fifth grade teacher, Rita Knierim. They taught fifth together for 10 years. Some of those years were departmentalized so Lisa taught math to the fourth-sixth graders as well as all subjects to her homeroom fifth graders. She was also a cheer coach for junior high and high school cheerleaders for a total of 17 years.

Lisa had completed her Masters in Reading K-12 in the summer of 1998 and took over the Title 1 Reading position in 1995. She has been the Title 1 Reading teacher at Tarkio for 16 years now.

Lisa started doing the books for basketball in 2005 and never quit. Her first experience at that was during District basketball, where students are not allowed to keep stats. She also helped run the crow’s nest for track meets and would do the book/stats for baseball.

After retirement, Lisa will continue to work at the TAC and the Tarkio Golf Course clubhouse. Lisa has also been a seed field inspector for the Pioneer Seed Company for 22 years. She may also substitute teach.

Karma Coleman

Karma Coleman hasn’t been at Tarkio as long as the other women, but she still managed to make a huge impact on the school and community. Karma came to Tarkio after a difficult few years for our school district and really dug right in to turn things around. She worked extremely hard at organizing and implementing new things for the school and was instrumental in getting the Tarkio Activity Center up and going. Not only was this a huge plus for the school district, but also the community and surrounding area residents who have full access to the building amenities as well.

Karma graduated in May 1991 with a BS degree in Elementary Education and a minor in mathematics. She completed her Master’s in Educational Administration, and later her Specialist in Superintendency. Her first job was teaching fourth grade at Northeast Nodaway. She then took a job at Truman Middle School in St. Joseph teaching junior high math, and even a gifted class. This is where she started her administrative career in 1997. Karma started as an elementary principal at Nodaway-Holt R-VII in August of 2000 and spent 17 years there, eight as an elementary principal and nine as a superintendent. She left Nodaway-Holt to come to Tarkio where she has spent the last four years. This final year is her 30th year as an educator.

“Thirty years is full of many, many fond memories. I have so many memories, good and bad, I could write a very entertaining book!” she said. “A memory that really stands out in my time at Tarkio is renovating the TAC. It has been such a positive thing for the community, with so many possibilities for the future.”

Karma is exploring a couple of options for a possible second career, but has no specific plans for retirement right now, except to spend time with her family and enjoy her new house. She said, “There is certainly a lot of excitement and relief that comes with retiring, but also a bit of sadness for what used to be.”