Education Week - October 2, 2024 - 14

This Teacher Is in Her
64th Year in the Classroom.
She Has No Plans to Quit
Martha Strever has built her life around
Linden Avenue Middle School
By Caitlynn Peetz
When Martha Strever began teaching 63
years ago, the home computer did not exist
and the first human had yet to walk on the
moon.
There were 23 amendments to the Constitution
instead of the current 27, John F. Kennedy
was president, and the civil rights March on
Washington had not happened.
A lot has changed since 1961. But one constant
is Linden Avenue Middle School's math
teacher.
Strever, now in her mid-80s, has been a fixture
at the Red Hook, N.Y., school in the intervening
63 years, teaching thousands of students
math-in some cases three generations
of students from the same family-while navigating
momentous changes in both the world
around her and the education profession.
" I never could have imagined when I started
some of the things we'd see and do in my career, "
Strever said. " It has certainly been interesting. "
On
Sept. 4, she began her 64th year of teaching,
an incredible feat as districts contend with
high levels of teacher burnout and turnover,
with more than 40 percent of teachers leaving
the profession in their first five years.
For Strever, it's challenging work, just as it is
for everyone else. But it's also work that she's
molded her entire life around and that she's as
committed to as ever. She doesn't plan to quit
anytime soon. " I can't imagine doing anything
else, " she said.
Strever had a love of teaching
from a young age
Strever grew up in Hyde Park, about 20 minutes
south of Red Hook.
When she was 7, Strever would sneak up to
her parents' room after school and stand in
front of their full-length mirror, mimicking
her favorite teachers.
She had already decided she wanted to follow
in their footsteps.
It took Strever a few more years to figure out
exactly what subject she wanted to teach, but
once she dropped a high school social studies
class midyear to make room for an additional
math course, the answer was obvious-she
was going to be a math teacher.
She received a few scholarships that made
it possible for her to attend college, and she
landed a student-teaching job at none other
than Linden Avenue Middle School, about an
hour south of Albany.
Strever was offered a full-time teaching job
at the school after she completed her studentteaching
stint. She took it despite attractive
teaching job offers elsewhere.
14 | EDUCATION WEEK | October 2, 2024 | www.edweek.org
In 1971, Strever became the first female department
chair in the Red Hook district, overseeing
math instruction, a position she held
for 49 years, until the onset of the pandemic.
The biggest draw: The position allowed her
to continue teaching.
Not being in the classroom " is a dealbreaker
for me, " Strever said.
" There was another opportunity in another
district, but it would have taken me out of the
classroom, and that's just where my heart is. "
Strever has taught multiple
generations of students
Strever is well beyond teachers' average retirement
age of 59 and almost double the age
of the average American educator (43).
In her career, she's taught students after
teaching their parents and their parents' parents.
Strever believes she's also taught some
more recent students' great-grandparents.
She's taught a district assistant superintendent,
as well as a handful of other administrators, and
at least one former school board member.
Top: Martha Strever, a math teacher at
Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook,
N.Y., addresses her class on Sept. 6, 2024.
Students listen to Strever during class.
Photos by Flynn Larsen for Education Week
http://www.edweek.org
Education Week - October 2, 2024

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