SUMNER — Marilyn Chesley remembers taking her textbooks to all of her son’s ball games so she could study.

Chesley, 64, an elementary teacher for 23 years, is retiring from her position at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School at the end of the school year.

Teaching was her second career. Her first was raising her four children.

She decided to enter the University of Maine at Farmington in 1985, the same year her eldest daughter started college.

“I’ve never regretted it,” she said from her first-grade classroom. “I stayed home when the children were small, then my days were filled with kids and classes. I loved UMF. I got a lot of feedback.”

Chesley taught first and second grade at Turner Elementary School first, then took a position as first-grade teacher 11 years ago. Although she loved the Turner school, the Sumner school was just down the road from her home.

While she was a college student, Chesley said she had many friends. The students were nice, she said, and would often talk to her about their problems.

“They would talk to me like I was their mother. They were used to having older students in class,” she said.

She has always liked teaching first-graders.

“First grade is pretty exciting. They are learning to read and write but that is changing now with most first-graders attending pre-K or all-day kindergarten,” she said.

Entering the teaching profession seemed to come naturally. She had her own four children, she had volunteered in the Buckfield-area schools, and was offered a position as a Title I educational technician. She has four eight siblings and she is right in the middle.

“My mother always asked me to help. I was destined to be a teacher,” she said.

Coming to school for these 23 years has been a joy, she said.

“I love seeing the kids everyday. When they are successful, they are so happy,” she said.

But a recent illness kept her away from class for quite sometime last year and she doesn’t want to do that again.

One son lives in Albuquerque, N.M.. He has two children whom Chesley can now visit more often. Another son lives in Michigan, and another child lives in Massachusetts. Her eldest daughter lives in Buckfield so she’s able to see her and her two children more often.

Her husband, Russell, is an electrician who plans to retire in July. He once served on the former SAD 39 board.

Chesley hopes having more time will give her a chance to go hiking, and attend more plays and museums, particularly with her grandchildren.

Besides graduating from UMF, she also earned a master’s degree from the University of Maine.

“I’m looking forward to having the whole summer off. Usually I’m here many days,” she said.

Returning to school was something she’s never regretted.

“It is one of the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” she said.

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